This week the numbers of sea lions near the dam have dropped off considerably as they begin to return to the mouth of the Columbia as part of their natural migration down the coast. While the numbers at the dam have decreased, the numbers of California and Stellars have risen in Astoria as most will prepare to leave the area.

This week we talked to quite a few people visiting the river with binoculars and cameras trying to catch a glimpse of the sea lions in action. SLDB talked to many locals visiting from Stevenson, North Bonneville, Portland, Troutdale and Vancouver. However, we have also made friends with members of the Yakima tribe (who still need to stop by to try some nettles ) and we met people SPECIFICALLY visiting the area for the sea lions from Idaho and Seattle.
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As reported yesterday, earlier this week the traps were moved closer to the sea lions’ haul out spot on the rocks. Brigadiers feared that the sea lions would leave the sanctuary of the jagged, rock beach for the comforts of the sinister platforms of doom (the floating traps).

thankfully they haven’t! Stellar and California Sea lions have nuzzled right in between two of the traps still on the rocks!! Clever animals! Maybe they smell the fear from the sea lions that came before still lingering in the cages.

Yesterday at sunrise we counted 27 total… not ONE in the traps! And this morning we counted 34 and again… not ONE in the traps!!

This morning out on the river Sea Lion Defenders were greeted by 7 sea lions that were floating near the shore where Sea Wolf One parks. These sea lions were linked by their fins creating a kind of sea lion flotilla. Sea lions will congregate in large numbers in this way to stay together and afloat while they sleep in the water.

We watched as they huddled together, bobbing up and down, a couple of them looking in our direction, but most of them just ignoring us. Gotta say, pretty incredible animals.

This week Sea Wolf One has been joined by several new full time volunteer monitors on the river. These dedicated folks have joined the Sea lion defense team to patrol, observe, and document the ongoing trapping and killing program by government agencies who continue to scapegoat these animals instead addressing the real threats to threatened salmon on the Columbia River.

Earlier this week, the Sea Lion Defense team confirmed suspicions that ODFW has indeed been trapping at night and in the dark. PatrolLers witnessed the gate to the trap being dropped at just after 4a.m. in the morning. (more…)

The story of the naming of ‘Solo’

The last couple days have been really difficult at the Sea Wolf outpost. A couple nights ago, during an evening patrol, i was walking along the bank when i saw a couple sea lions swimming together in the river. I’ve been out observing the government’s trapping, hazing, and killing program for the last couple weeks so i’ve been watching the sea lions a lot over that time. I’ve always known that sea lions are very social animals and form close bonds with each other and (more…)

Last night, our monitor at the dam could hear the barking of sea lions late into the night. She could not tell where they were in the dark, and she called in to report that this seemed like something unusual as she has not heard them sounding like this before. In the morning, when the sun came up, she could finally see them. There were three of them. They were sitting on the rocks along the steep bank, not far from the traps where two animals had been taken from and killed yesterday. All three were facing the trap, plaintively calling. One in particular, she said, was staring directly at the trap and refused to turn away or move from the rocks. He just stared straight at the trap, calling out. The sea lions continued to call out all morning, in a way she has not heard on any of the mornings since the Sea Wolf arrived at the area near the dam. They seem to be calling out to their fallen comrades.

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Monitors observed the opening of human predation on salmon today as the first fishermen trickled onto the shore. Monitors witnessed several fisherman within a few hundred feet of the fish ladder on the Washington side of Bonneville dam. One member of Sldb explained,”these fishermen are getting very bold, they come all the way up to the dam to catch fish and what’s worse is that as the salmon run grows, more and more fishermen will show up.” she went on to say, “human predation has gotten to be a real problem. The observed rate is now 16%.” just a few years ago the observed human take was 9% in 2007, then 12% in 2008, then 13% last year. And that’s just the observed take. No one really knows what the actual predation rate is.

Sldb is taking steps to observe the humans to determine which are the biggest offenders. (more…)