Free Republic

Complete title: Sea lion task force to weigh in on whether to kill and remove sea lions feasting on fish at Bonneville Dam The sea lion task force returns to the drawing board next week. Their task: to recommend to kill and remove sea lions feasting on endangered salmon below Bonneville Dam this spring -- or not. The controversial lethal-take policy has been on-again, off-again since first approved in 2008. The 16-member federal task force wants to hammer out issues early and avoid the problems of last November when a federal appeals court effectively blocked the permit. The task force...

Oregon and Washington have been given permission to resume removing or killing California sea lions at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, a federal agency said Friday. The decision by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration came about six months after a federal appeals court struck down a similar permit aimed at reducing the number of threatened or endangered salmon eaten by the hungry marine mammals. ... the California sea lion population is healthy, estimated at 238,000, while wild Columbia River spring chinook salmon are listed as endangered. ... NOAA Regional Director William Stelle said new data suggest sea lions...

The state of Alaska filed a lawsuit Tuesday in an effort to stop a federal agency's plan to protect endangered sea lions by restricting fishing in the western Aleutian Islands. According to Parnell's office, up to 900 people are employed by fleets in the areas where fishing will be restricted. It says the plan would cost fishery losses of tens of millions of dollars annually, and it believes the federal agency committed procedural violations that limited input from the public and experts.

The National Marine Fisheries Service said Friday it's investigating the dead animals that drifted to shore and include at least one Steller sea lion, a species listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The rest are California sea lions. Brian Gorman of the fisheries service said it's illegal in most—but not all—cases to shoot any kind of sea lion. He says five shooting deaths in one year is highly unusual. The West Seattle Blog first reported the deaths. SEATTLE (AP)—Authorities say five or six sea lions have been shot to death near Seattle. The National Marine Fisheries Service...

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Hundreds of sea lions that abruptly blew out of San Francisco Bay’s Pier 39 last Thanksgiving have apparently found a new home at another tourist attraction — 500 miles north on the Oregon coast.

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) -- Some Orange County nudists are fuming over the burial of a rotting sea lion carcass on a San Onofre beach. The naturists said Tuesday that state parks officials buried the animal on the beach near Trail 6, . . . the dead animal's fin sticks out of the sand just a few yards from a volleyball court near where people still sunbathe naked. He says the stench is so overpowering

Hundreds of the animals have relaxed on San Francisco's Pier 39 for the last 20 years, attracting tourists from around the world. Only last month the pier was groaning under the weight of more than 1,500 sea lions. But now there are less than 10. visitor walks past the floating docks at Pier 39, once home to hundreds of sea lions The animals first arrived in 1990, attracted into San Francisco Bay by herring. Their numbers have fluctuated over the years with changing water temperatures and food supplies, but were at record levels earlier this year. Jeff Boehm, executive director...

A small band of sea lions that made their home on Pier 39 in weeks after Loma Prieta has ballooned to a record number in the past week. Perhaps it's a wildlife reunion to celebrate the quake's 20th anniversary next month. Regardless of the reason, the people who do the counting say they have never counted this high before. Last Friday, there were 1,585 sea lions hanging out at the pier. The experts at the Marine Mammal Center say they don't know what is behind the increase, but that they are hunting for clues. Record Number of Sea Lions Flock...

BONNEVILLE, Wash. -- Under order of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Fisheries, the trapping project at Bonneville Dam continues, with four more sea lions getting euthanized.

BONNEVILLE, Ore. – A sea lion recently trapped as part of an effort by wildlife managers to protect endangered salmon and steelhead has been euthanized.

SEATTLE - The federal government has granted Washington, Oregon and Idaho permission to kill up to 85 of sea lions a year for five years, and for 2009, that window begins Monday. Eighty sea lions have been put on a so-called "hit list" after being spotted and tagged while eating spring Chinook salmon. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has requested two animals, but the rest of the animals that are trapped will be shot or given lethal injections. Animal activists continue to fight for the mammals, saying they're being unfairly scapegoated for depleting the salmon population. “The real issue is over...

A federal judge Thursday denied a request by the Humane Society of the United States for a stay of his order allowing three Western states to resume capturing or killing sea lions that feed on salmon at the base of Bonneville Dam. U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled in November against the Humane Society, which is trying to prevent Oregon, Washington and Idaho from killing or transporting up to 425 California sea lions over five years to relieve pressure on the spring chinook salmon run. Charles Hudson, spokesman for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, called Thursday's motion a "Hail...

A federal judge this week gave the go-ahead to kill sea lions feasting on salmon at Bonneville Dam, but a Washington state fishery manager said Wednesday that managers will continue to try to trap and relocate the animals first. U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman on Tuesday ruled against the Humane Society of the United States, which sued to block the lethal-take permit issued to state fishery managers earlier this year by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The states want to kill nuisance sea lions that have in recent years taken advantage of a man-made bottleneck to devour imperiled salmon. “We’re...

Heat prostration probably killed six sea lions enclosed within a pair of floating cages near Bonneville Dam a week and a half ago, according to federal authorities. The disclosure on Wednesday lends new insight - while raising new questions - over the puzzling deaths of four California sea lions and two threatened Steller sea lions sometime between 7 p.m. May 3 and the time they were discovered in the floating docks at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 4. The National Marine Fisheries Service reported Wednesday that necropsies on all six animals are consistent with death from heat prostration - even though...

 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Humane Society of the United States has reached an agreement with state and federal governments that blocks killing or permanent removal of sea lions in the Columbia River until early 2009.In return, the Humane Society will drop its appeal in federal court against the U.S. Commerce Department and the governments of Oregon and Washington, Sharon Young, the society's field director of marine issues, said Tuesday.A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was to hear a case Thursday that could have led to killing some sea lions at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia...

http://www.newser.com/story/26555.html Welcome Google Searcher! Your search for news about shoot sealion has brought you to Newser - a news site designed to help you know more with fewer searches. The article you were looking for is just below - if this summary doesn't give you the information you were looking for, Newser editors have provided hand picked links to the best sources across the web for this topic. Check out the gridWhile You're Here... Check out our home page, also known as "the grid". We've received consistent praise on our scrolling grid as the best format to keep up with...

Six federally protected sea lions were apparently shot to death on the Columbia River as they lay in open traps put out to ensnare the animals, which eat endangered salmon. State and federal authorities are investigating. The discovery came one day after three elephant seals were found shot to death at a breeding ground in central California. Trapping will be suspended during the investigation, said Rick Hargrave, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife who was at the scene Sunday.

State and federal authorities said they are investigating the deaths of six sea lions found dead at the Columbia River traps. They appeared to have been shot. The bodies of four California sea lions and two Steller sea lions were found at the traps early Sunday afternoon. There were two California sea lions and one Steller sea lion at each of two traps just below the Bonneville Dam. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and federal investigators are treating the area as a crime scene. Both species of sea lion are federally protected but Oregon and Washington state are...

I 'm with Joyce Kilmer -- "I think that I shall never see/ A poem lovely as a tree." I'm even with city Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who recently waxed poetical before the Portland City Council on the "incredible" "show-stopping" trees growing in Portland. But before I could recall the last lines of Kilmer's poem -- "Poems are made by fools like me, / But only God can make a tree!" -- Saltzman went on to say something that's creepy and chilling: "It sometimes pains me to think that we have no ability to control their destiny -- that a private...

The Humane Society of the United States has filed a request for an emergency injunction asking a federal appeals court to block the government from killing protected sea lions at Bonneville Dam. U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman rejected a request for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday even though he said the Humane Society might prevail in court with a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service and the states of Oregon and Washington. The ruling left open the possibility the states could begin killing the sea lions today. But the government and the Humane Society said they did not expect...

PORTLAND -- The Humane Society of the United States, Wild Fish Conservancy and two citizens have filed suit in U.S. District Court to halt the authorized killing of sea lions at the base of Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River. The lawsuit, filed Monday, had been filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., last week but it was withdrawn when the fish conservancy group asked to join it. The National Marine Fisheries Service has granted a request by Oregon and Washington to kill up to 85 animals a year over five years to protect endangered or threatened salmon runs. The...

The hunter may soon become the hunted at Bonneville Dam. Sea lions have in recent years converted the damÂ’s forebay into their own salmon buffet line, but soon they may eat their last meal. Federal authorities last week granted a request by the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho to shoot California sea lions believed to be taking a chunk of salmon stocks that have already dwindled nearly to the point of extinction. The issue pits one creature against another, but it more fundamentally raises questions about humansÂ’ role in trying to strike a balance. Ultimately, itÂ’s likely someone will...

TRAPS, pyrotechnics and beanbags shot at sea lions have failed to deter the annual springtime feast of threatened salmon at a northwestern US dam... The National Marine Fisheries Service authorised Oregon and Washington state officials to first attempt to catch the sea lions that arrive at the base of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River and hold them 48 hours to see whether an aquarium, zoo or similar facility will take them. Otherwise, they could be euthanised, along with those that avoid trapping. About 60 of the California sea lions, identified by branding, scars or other markings, were deemed...

Federal fisheries managers are giving the go-ahead today for Oregon and Washington officials to trap and, if necessary, kill sea lions that wolf down thousands of salmon at Bonneville Dam every year. The Associated Press received a copy of the order late Monday. It limits lethal removal to sea lions deemed to have a significant effect on federally protected salmon and steelhead stocks. They must have been seen eating such fish between Jan. 1 and May 31 of any year. The order says sea lions captured in traps must be held for at least 48 hours to allow a search...

PORTLAND, ORE. -- A federal agency recommends killing about 30 sea lions a year at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River to keep them from eating salmon and steelhead. It was among four proposals listed by NOAA Fisheries Service after meetings of a task force last year and requests in 2006 by Oregon, Washington and Idaho to allow removal of some of the animals, which are protected under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. At least three upper Columbia River spring salmon runs that pass through the dam are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Sea lions, while...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — To Columbia River tribes, California sea lions are salmon-gobbling menaces that have outgrown their need for federal protection, threaten tribal livelihoods and fly in the face of treaty rights. Animal rights advocates see them as a politically convenient scapegoat used to explain dwindling salmon runs when the real problems lie elsewhere. On Sept. 4 a broad-based federal task force meets here to make a recommendation to NOAA Fisheries as to whether to allow some sea lions, protected under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, to be killed to take pressure off salmon runs. In recent years...

Signs emerge of vigilante approach to protected sea lions 4/19/2007, 5:25 p.m. PT By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER The Associated Press    PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The competition between protected sea lions gobbling Columbia River salmon and impatient humans with empty fishing lines has led to vigilante action.A fisherman shot a sea lion who stole a salmon off the line of a fellow angler Wednesday at a popular fishing spot near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers.The sea lion was hit twice but reported alive in the river Wednesday night.Fishermen have complained that the sea lions eat too...

Despite bombs, boats and rubber bullets, dozens of sea lions are continuing to kill salmon near the Bonneville Dam. This month, biologists are trying one last time to scare off the problem sea lions, but if that doesn't work, they may try to kill them. Sea lions could kill as much as 10 percent of this spring's salmon run and biologists say if they cannot get the problem solved soon, the situation could get ugly. The problem is that the salmon are disappearing. An estimated 8,000 salmon will be lost this spring at Bonneville Dam. "The difficult part about it...

ST. LOUIS—Parasites from cat feces are causing deadly brain damage in California sea otters. A combination of toxic chemicals and herpes virus is killing off California sea lions. And toxic algae blooms are contributing to record manatee deaths in Florida. All of these animals live near coastlines, spending a majority of their lives in the same waters people swim and surf in. Their daily cuisines consist of the same foods we serve up in clam shacks and fine seafood restaurants. The difference between humans and these animals, says NOAA spokesperson Paul Sandifer, is that the animals deal with the ocean...

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) A group of raucous sea lions are on the agenda of the Newport Harbor Commission hearing today. Officials are looking for ways to drive away the animals that's causing mayhem ever since they showed up in the harbor in May. Residents say they bark all night long, and the city received a report that a rogue sea lion tipped over a mother and her child in their kayak. One recent weekend, about 15 hefty sea lions managed to sink a 50-foot sailboat and owner Jerry Dunlap had to pay $3,500 to have it dragged up. To...

IRVINE, Calif. - Irvine the sea lion is taking a breather after swimming nearly five miles up a creek channel into the civic center. Her journey was an Orange County distance record for wayward sea lions. Irvine the city is in Orange County, south of Los Angeles. "This is the farthest inland we've ever picked up a sea lion," said Michele Hunter of the nonprofit Pacific Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, where Irvine was taken after her capture. "We have seen some marine animals out in the Back Bay before," Hunter said. "They may have been following some fish or...

ENSENADA, Baja California Despite federal regulations protecting the species, the killing of sea lions in Todos Santos Bay, 25 km. south of Ensenada, has been a long-term phenomena. Because the animals like to eat the same fish that have attracted fishermen and hatchery owners to the area, the sea lions have made many human enemies who have taken out their frustrations by means of violence. But when 26 sea lions were found dead from gunshot wounds or blows to the head during one 15-day period in May, authorities took notice. According to Ricardo Castellanos Percevault of the federal environmental agency,...

SANTA MONICA — Three dead sea lions washed ashore on several beaches Monday after getting sick from a natural toxin released by algae. That brings the total number of sea lions washing ashore in recent days to eight, though the previous five were still alive. Those animals, some of whom were pregnant, were being nursed back to health by the nonprofit group Whale Rescue Team after they were found ashore in Playa Del Rey, Venice, Santa Monica and Will Rogers State beaches in recent weeks. The dead sea lions washed up at Cabrillo and White Point beaches in San Pedro....

BONNEVILLE DAM, Ore. -- Sea lions are feasting on fish at the Bonneville Dam, and engineers are looking for ways to drive away the protected animals. About 30 sea lions surround the dam's spillways, gorging on any fish that come by. But that reportedly has minor impact on the fish runs. The problem is that at least two have figured out how to enter the fish ladders. "It's pretty amazing that they've managed to get all the way into the locks," fisherman Tom Wood told KOIN News 6. "They can take out some research equipment that they have in there....

Menlo Park police officer Lou Tommei was working a routine midnight shift early Tuesday morning when he spotted something large, dark and rotund in the middle of a city street. Surprised, the officer called dispatch: ``I think we have a sea lion waddling westbound on Willow Road.''Unsure how to deal with the slick and furry jaywalker, Tommei and other officers tried for hours to coax the critter to safety -- at one point even offering it dog treats. But the sea lion resisted, and the officers ended up shutting down several lanes of traffic on the Bayfront Expressway and waiting...

The Associated Press MANAMA, Bahrain Aug. 11 — The U.S. Navy has deployed highly trained dolphins to the region to help protect U.S. and coalition ships and piers against terrorist attacks by providing early warning of hostile swimmers. "If there are any uninvited guests swimmers and divers trying to cause harm to U.S. and coalition naval assets, the dolphins can detect and locate them," said Lt. Josh Frey, a spokesman of the 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, on Monday. Citing security reasons, Lt. Cmdr. Martin Anderson declined to divulge how many dolphins have been brought in, when they...

Hungry creatures ... some 600 hungry young sea lions, many starving or injured, have converged near the Coast Guard pier in Monterey, California over the past few days. Experts suspect the light El Nino year has made it harder for them to find food sources. Photo: AFP Seeking succour ... more sea lions invade a dock and a row of sailboats along the Coast Guard pier in Monterey, California. Some 600 hungry young sea lions, many starving or injured, have converged on the harbour over the past few days. Photo: AFP

<p>FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.</p>

Pigeons, Chickens, Dolphins, Dogs Get Marching Orders in Iraq War By Siobhan McDonough Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. troops are getting an assist from a military menagerie in the Iraq war. Chickens, sea lions and a few good dolphins - Makai and Tacoma - have been in the fight. Dogs, good at alerting troops and relaying messages, are also sniffing out bombs in Iraq. Warfare has long depended on the fowl and the four-legged, whether they were elephants bearing javelin throwers on the battlefields of the ancient world, camels spooking Byzantine cavalry horses with their pungent smell, or...

US Navy's 'Flipper' goes AWOL Staff Sgt. Justin Roberts escorts K-Dog, a Bottle Nose Dolphin belonging to Commander Task Unit. In Bahrain, sea lions are being used to detect unauthorized swimmers near U.S. Navy ships. A sea lion moves through the water with a training device during a harbor-patrol exercise. Photo Credits: Courtesy U.S. Navy March 31, 2003 AUSTRALIAN military divers yesterday questioned the effectiveness of the US Navy's mine-clearing dolphins, revealing one had disappeared for two days. The polite way to express their scepticism about the mine-clearing skills of the dolphins is to question their reliability and cost-efficiency, but...

Navy tests mammals as sentinels for ships and shore operationsBy David Hasemyer, Staff WriterZak and Alexander aren't frogmen even though they're wearing wet suits. They are sea lions. And they're being tested in the Persian Gulf, guarding Navy ships and shore installations. The roughly 375-pound mammals are among a number of California sea lions that have been in the gulf since late January to assess their potential as underwater lookouts. The animals were trained at the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems in San Diego and are being put to the test while supporting the military in Operation Enduring Freedom....

NAVAL OFFICIALS SAID Tuesday the sea lions would be used to locate and mark divers or swimmers that could pose a threat to U.S. warships off Bahrain, headquarters of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The sea lions have been trained to carry a special clamp in their mouths which they can attach to a suspicious person, Commander John Wood, Special Operations Officer Naval Forces Central Command, told Reuters. The clamp is attached by a line to a flotation device which marks the swimmer for security personnel to apprehend him. Wood would not explain in detail how the clamp worked or what...

The US Navy has deployed trained California sea lions to the Gulf, to act as lookouts for those who may be trying to attack a port or ship. Lieutenant Josh Frey says the mammals are trained to detect swimmers and underwater divers. The sea lions will be working with Harbour Patrol Unit of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. They can locate a diver and attach restraint devices or tags that allow human security personnel to apprehend and question the infiltrator. Lt Frey said: "We will be testing the ability of these sea mammals to operate effectively in a real world environment."...

<p>Morning meal: The way we heard it . . . Members of the Marin Mammal Center, a fantastic organization made up mostly of volunteers, recently were part of a chartered nature trip on one of the local party boats. They brought two sea lion pups, which were to be released into the ocean at the Farallon Islands. Beautiful, calm day, and the skipper pulled up to the islands between the southeast anchorage buoy and the hoist. The first seal went into the water and swam a little ways from the boat. Then the second. Then the skipper and about everyone else saw the shark -- great white, big, 17 to 18 feet -- slide out from under the boat and come up under the sea lion that had just been released. A swirl, a splash, the pup was gone. Next thing they saw was a slight disturbance just under the ocean surface, on a beeline for the first sea lion. Swirl. Splash. Not so much as a stain left on the water. The folks on the boat, naturally, were horrified. The shark, naturally, was doing only what sharks do. The skipper: "I've been running these trips for years, and this is the first time it's happened. It was very unfortunate, but that shark was in the right place at the right time. I guess."</p>