Federally protected sea lions found shot at Bonneville Dam

kgw.com ^ | May 4, 2008 | AP

[sionnsar]

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[John123]

Question for those who know...

Why are Sea Lions a Federally protected species? I wasn't aware they are threatened with extinction?

[wastedyears]

Eco-nazis

[bert]

Indians don’t shoot sea lions, they run motels

[mad_as_he$$]

They would find them shot off Moss Landing all the time. They never caught anyone.

[bert]

.....People are getting tired of animals who are not endangered being on the list, and now they want to add Polar Bears, who are in no danger what so ever of becoming extinct any time soon. ....

I think you have stumbled on the solution.....

Capture the sea lions and take them to Alaska to feed the polar bears.

[Paperdoll]

>Sounds like the work of a seriously disturbed person to me.<

Naw. A good sea lion is a dead sea lion. The balance of nature must be protected.

[rickomatic]

Tastes like chicken.

[mickey finn]

“How do we know the enviro-nuts didn't shoot them in order to place blame on local fishermen and garner sympathy for more federal protection for the seals and everything else wild?”

That thought crossed my mind. They have suspended the trapping program for now. Plus they were initially going to kill them, and the Humane Society had the courts step in and make them trap them and send them to zoos.

In the seventies when the Marine Mammal Protection Act was made, there were less than 50,000 of these fish eating machines in Oregon, now there are something like 250,000 of them.

I say make them into biofuel, burgers, and rain gear.

[mickey finn]

“Actually, it could more easily have been done from a small boat with an electric trolling motor and no lights.”

The Columbia River below a dam is not a place for a trolling motor. It is a huge, powerful river.

[Joe 6-pack]

Was there smiley face graffiti where the bodies went in the water?

[mickey finn]

We're really shocked,” said Sharon Young, society spokeswoman, who learned about the deaths from a reporter.

“We're a nation of laws and we should expect people to abide by them,” Young said.

“The cruel shooting of defenseless sea lions left vulnerable in government traps should mark the final chapter in this sad story of blaming sea lions for salmon declines in the Northwest,” said Michael Markarian, The HSUS’ executive vice president. “The agencies must investigate aggressively and halt the entire trapping program immediately.”

I think the Humane Society and some environuts are behind this. Why bother shooting them in the traps, and risk getting in huge trouble, when you could plug them in the head in the river and let them float down the river and possibly not draw any attention. Why wait until the trapping program has finally begun, after years of debate, and then decide to shoot them in the cages when they have finally been removed from the river. Now the trapping program is halted and the HS has another opportunity to stop it outright.

This scenario is not above the stunts of PETA, ALF or any other of these wacko groups.

[Bean Counter]

It’s pretty unanimous among the local fishermaen that whoever did this is akin to Zorro....

However, the local Authorities are taking a very dim view, and in fact the penalty for this act is $100,000 fine and a year in the can for each of the Sea Lions.

My comment about this requiring a sniper was admittedly over the top. However, it was certainly someone who knew exactly what they were doing, and if these animals were shot from the bank, it was one hell of a marksman that did it. Not much is being said right now, but there appear to be no bullets in the carcasses which suggests a high-powered rifle was used, and the shots passed through the animals.

On another note, the sea lion that died in captivity last week weighed in at over 1400 pounds, where a normal sea lion his age would have weighed about 900. That should be some indication of just how badly these sea lions are gorging themselves at the base of the fish ladders.

[mickey finn]

“On another note, the sea lion that died in captivity last week weighed in at over 1400 pounds, where a normal sea lion his age would have weighed about 900. That should be some indication of just how badly these sea lions are gorging themselves at the base of the fish ladders.”

1400 pounds! They are huge beasts.

I hope they get this investigation done so that they can continue the trapping. I also heard they found another carcass down river.

[Bean Counter]

Now they are saying that the results of the necropsies show these sea lions were not shot afterall. No word on what did kill them either.

Curiouser and curiouser...

[mickey finn]

“No word on what did kill them either.”

They are being awful quiet about the investigation. I hope they have some good leads. I find it hard to believe they do not have the area near the dam plastered with cameras after 911. The HSUS must feel pretty smug now that the program has been suspended. Meanwhile the tasty spring Chinook continue getting their bellies ripped open.