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Charleston
sea lions getting bolder
April
16, 2007
Associated Press
CHARLESTON, Ore. (AP) _ One started biting at James
Marron's yellow kayak. Another confronted fisherman Jeff Reeves as he
walked along a dock with his grandson.
Marron headed for a mud flat and the
Reeves said he and his grandson ran. "It was
clear that I wasn't going to stand that sea lion down," he said.
They can reach 1,000 pounds and haul themselves onto
the docks of the
Jan Hodder, an associate professor at the Oregon
Institute of Marine Biology, said male
Another possibility involves tourists and fishermen
who toss fish or fish guts into the water.
"These animals have habituated to human
activities," Hodder said, adding that feeding sea lions is illegal
under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the same law that
prohibits people from harming them under most circumstances.
"The important message for people is that they
are wild animals and people should not approach them too closely,"
she said.
State Police Lt. David Gifford said he and his
fellow officers typically hand out warnings and citations to people who
feed sea lions but concentrate more on educating people to prevent harm
to both humans and animals.
He said he hasn't seen many cases of people feeding
sea lions in
"It could have been protecting the area where
it gets fed all of the time. That's the kind of problem we are trying to
avoid," Gifford said.
Dan Morris, the owner of Basin Tackle Shop in
Charleston and a retired fisherman, said he often hears complaints about
sea lions and has had run-ins with a few.
"They are slowly becoming a direct hazard to
the general public," Morris said, adding he fears that a child
might he harmed. "Sometimes they are very aggressive on the dock
and they won't let you by."
"They eat your fish they tangle your gear up.
When there are sea lions around, you can't make a living. Fish won't
come around," Morris said, adding he has shot several since he
began fishing in the 1970s.
"They are not being managed anymore. They are
managing us. Sea lions have more rights than we do," he said.
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman
Brian Gorman said there are provisions allowing people to kill or injure
a marine mammal if attacked.
"But you do have to be threatened by it, not
just inconvenienced by it. For example, if you encounter a sea lion on a
marina pier on the way to your boat and can't get on, that's too bad.
But if (you are) being attacked, you can kill it to protect yourself
from being killed (or) injured," Gorman said.
He said NOAA gets several reports a year of
aggressive sea lions occasionally biting people, but that there has been
no increase in such encounters.
National Marine Fisheries Service Fishery biologist
Garth Griffin said there have been cases of sea lions attacking people
in
He said Hodder's link of behavior to breeding and
territory would make sense if
"There is no doubt in my mind that the animals
are becoming more accustomed to interacting with humans and carving out
a living in areas we think of as our own. They've lost a lot of
fear," he said.
The best bet, Gorman said, is to stay clear of them.
"They are formidable and they can be very nasty
and I strongly advise to give them a very wide berth."
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