As many of you know, sadly, four more of our beloved sea lions died last week at the hands of the State, injected with poison to end their days in the sun. These four will not be seen again. I will miss them. Especially, I will miss C578 and C579. I am sad that we never gave them names. I have known these two animals for a very long time. Every time I have ever seen them, they have been together. They were probably even trapped together some years back, the day that they received their brands. (This is likely why their brand numbers are consecutive.) I have seen them swimming together in the waters of the Columbia, side by side, nuzzling each others’ noses, many times over the years. I have watched the two of them basking in the sun together on the docks, side by side, often with one laying his flipper over the back of the other in a gentle embrace. I’ve watched them amiably push their snouts into each others’ sides and rub their faces against each other. I’ve laughed while they cocked their heads to the side and engaged in raucous discussions with one another, barking like friendly dogs. Any time I have seen one of them, I had only to look for a moment before seeing the other one near by. Their loving friendship has been a joy to me for a long time, and it is with tears that I acknowledge that on a sunny, spring morning last week, the two of them, together, leapt out of the water to bask in the warm April sun for the very last time. They chose, as a place to rest, a flat, smooth place that turned out to be… one of the murderous traps. And so they have died together.

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