MOSS LANDING — Sea lions have become a menace in Moss Landing Harbor, biting
people and breaking docks.

Fishermen in the harbor are concerned about the animals, but because they
are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, they are limited in their
options.

One fisherman was bitten by a sea lion last year and had to be hospitalized.
The wound got infected and led to a long recovery. Moss Landing resident,
Karen Dzuro of Custom Marine Covers, was bruised on the leg when a sea lion
jumped from the water and bumped against her on the dock.

Carol Jones of Tom's Sportfishing said sea lions frequently grab fish out of
her customer's hands as they are leaving the boat after a fishing
expedition.

The sea lions haul out onto the docks in large numbers, sometimes sinking
them and breaking them apart, and making it dangerous for fishermen to get
to their boats.

"They're vicious, wild beasts," said Linda McIntyre, the harbormaster. "What
I'm afraid of is that they're going to wait until a child gets killed before
they do anything."

Sea lions, once endangered, have recovered, with a current population of
more than 300,000, compared to 80,000 in the mid-1970s.

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The increased numbers have led to increased conflicts with humans up and
down the California coast.

McIntyre has tried everything from sprinklers to setting aside an area for
the sea lions to banging on the docks with sticks. The only thing that works
is to hire someone to walk up and down the docks, banging on them or
shooting an air pistol to make noise, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as
long as the sea lions are around.

In December, she went to a conference in La Jolla designed to find
solutions. She discovered she wasn't alone.

So many sea lions climbed aboard a 50-foot sailboat in Newport Beach they
sank it. They've taken over the Children's Pool in San Diego, a beach
protected by a sea wall, and polluted the water with feces making it unsafe
for humans. And at the Ballard Locks in Seattle, the sea lions nearly wiped
out the endangered steelhead.

Nearby, both the Monterey Harbor and the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory have
struggled with the animals.

"It's like people," said Monica DeAngelis, a marine mammal biologist at the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the organizer of the
conference. "There are some bad apples out there, and there are some animals
that wouldn't do anything" bad.

At the moment, only a few sea lions are hanging around the docks. But when
salmon season rolls around, the fishermen expect they'll be back. They've
gotten worse each year for the past five years.

The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits harrassing any marine
mammal. However, when the animals block the dock, the fishermen may make
noise to scare them away and may use sticks to keep them at bay.

Most fishermen in Moss Landing say they use sticks, but they're not very
happy with that solution.

"Who wants to do that?" asked Jones. "Who wants to brave a fight with a
500-pound sea lion?"

Some are questioning whether the Marine Mammal Protection Act should be
modified to allow aggressive animals to be killed. There is a proposal in
Congress to modify it in that way.

Jim Harvey, a scientist at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory who has
studied the problem, agrees it might be time to rethink the provision.
Because sea lions are smart and learn from one another, killing the few
problem animals might prevent conflicts with many more animals.

"Dealing with a few individuals that might be causing problems, in my
opinion is much easier to deal with than saying let's go deal with the whole
population," said Jim Harvey, ecologist at the Moss Landing Marine
Laboratory,

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, supports additional funding to study how to deal
with conflicts between humans and sea lions, but does not support the
measure to allow killing nuisance animals.

And animal conservation groups are appalled at the idea of killing marine
mammals that once hunted to near extinction.

"We need to figure out a way for humans to inhabit the planet with these
species that we almost wiped out," said Kaitlin Gaffney of the Ocean
Conservancy. "There has to be a better solution to sharing the ocean with
these creatures than shooting them."

In article ,
jlrogers wrote:
MOSS LANDING — Sea lions have become a menace in Moss Landing Harbor, biting
people and breaking docks.

Fishermen in the harbor are concerned about the animals, but because they
are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, they are limited in their
options.

One fisherman was bitten by a sea lion last year and had to be hospitalized.
The wound got infected and led to a long recovery. Moss Landing resident,
Karen Dzuro of Custom Marine Covers, was bruised on the leg when a sea lion
jumped from the water and bumped against her on the dock.

Carol Jones of Tom's Sportfishing said sea lions frequently grab fish out of
her customer's hands as they are leaving the boat after a fishing
expedition.

The sea lions haul out onto the docks in large numbers, sometimes sinking
them and breaking them apart, and making it dangerous for fishermen to get
to their boats.

"They're vicious, wild beasts," said Linda McIntyre, the harbormaster. "What
I'm afraid of is that they're going to wait until a child gets killed before
they do anything."

Sea lions, once endangered, have recovered, with a current population of
more than 300,000, compared to 80,000 in the mid-1970s.

Has no one ever heard of culling? Seems pretty simple to me. There
must be some regs that need to be revised.



--
Capt. JG @@
www.sailnow.com

Mys Terry wrote:

You have a lot of anger.

You think he has anger!
HA!
If you gained as much weight as I have since berthing the boy you would
be angry too!

Just look at me
http://www.angeliqueandfriends.com/i..._bea_welle.jpg

My hips are swelling, Rob has about drained my breast and I'm retaining
water!

Anger...... you don't no **** about anger... you ****ing **** faced
loser.

SB
35s5
NY

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message

Has no one ever heard of culling? Seems pretty simple to me. There
must be some regs that need to be revised.

Culling of week-end sailors and whiny boaters who complain about wildlife
while attempting to escape civilization is a proactive method of ridding the
water of useless scum.

Seriously... if a seal can land a beating on you... you just don't deserve
to live.

CM

"jlrogers" wrote in message
om...
MOSS LANDING - Sea lions have become a menace in Moss Landing Harbor,
biting people and breaking docks.

Fishermen in the harbor are concerned about the animals, but because they
are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, they are limited in
their options.

One fisherman was bitten by a sea lion last year and had to be
hospitalized. The wound got infected and led to a long recovery. Moss
Landing resident, Karen Dzuro of Custom Marine Covers, was bruised on the
leg when a sea lion jumped from the water and bumped against her on the
dock.

Carol Jones of Tom's Sportfishing said sea lions frequently grab fish out
of her customer's hands as they are leaving the boat after a fishing
expedition.

The sea lions haul out onto the docks in large numbers, sometimes sinking
them and breaking them apart, and making it dangerous for fishermen to get
to their boats.

"They're vicious, wild beasts," said Linda McIntyre, the harbormaster.
"What I'm afraid of is that they're going to wait until a child gets
killed before they do anything."

Sea lions, once endangered, have recovered, with a current population of
more than 300,000, compared to 80,000 in the mid-1970s.

Advertisement



The increased numbers have led to increased conflicts with humans up and
down the California coast.

McIntyre has tried everything from sprinklers to setting aside an area for
the sea lions to banging on the docks with sticks. The only thing that
works is to hire someone to walk up and down the docks, banging on them or
shooting an air pistol to make noise, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
as long as the sea lions are around.

In December, she went to a conference in La Jolla designed to find
solutions. She discovered she wasn't alone.

So many sea lions climbed aboard a 50-foot sailboat in Newport Beach they
sank it. They've taken over the Children's Pool in San Diego, a beach
protected by a sea wall, and polluted the water with feces making it
unsafe for humans. And at the Ballard Locks in Seattle, the sea lions
nearly wiped out the endangered steelhead.

Nearby, both the Monterey Harbor and the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory
have struggled with the animals.

"It's like people," said Monica DeAngelis, a marine mammal biologist at
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the organizer of the
conference. "There are some bad apples out there, and there are some
animals that wouldn't do anything" bad.

At the moment, only a few sea lions are hanging around the docks. But when
salmon season rolls around, the fishermen expect they'll be back. They've
gotten worse each year for the past five years.

The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits harrassing any marine
mammal. However, when the animals block the dock, the fishermen may make
noise to scare them away and may use sticks to keep them at bay.

Most fishermen in Moss Landing say they use sticks, but they're not very
happy with that solution.

"Who wants to do that?" asked Jones. "Who wants to brave a fight with a
500-pound sea lion?"

Some are questioning whether the Marine Mammal Protection Act should be
modified to allow aggressive animals to be killed. There is a proposal in
Congress to modify it in that way.

Jim Harvey, a scientist at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory who has
studied the problem, agrees it might be time to rethink the provision.
Because sea lions are smart and learn from one another, killing the few
problem animals might prevent conflicts with many more animals.

"Dealing with a few individuals that might be causing problems, in my
opinion is much easier to deal with than saying let's go deal with the
whole population," said Jim Harvey, ecologist at the Moss Landing Marine
Laboratory,

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, supports additional funding to study how to deal
with conflicts between humans and sea lions, but does not support the
measure to allow killing nuisance animals.

And animal conservation groups are appalled at the idea of killing marine
mammals that once hunted to near extinction.

"We need to figure out a way for humans to inhabit the planet with these
species that we almost wiped out," said Kaitlin Gaffney of the Ocean
Conservancy. "There has to be a better solution to sharing the ocean with
these creatures than shooting them."

Fishermen=powerboaters. Frickin crybabies.

John Cairns

"Mys Terry" wrote
You have a lot of anger.

He prolly does living in a city but that has zip to do with culling. My paltry
acreage borders over 1000 acres of woods full of deer. My neighbor sponsors a
drive every year to thin the herd. They usually harvest 50-100 bambies. No
anger is involved, nor sport - just good game management and meat on the table.

If I put 150 steers on a pasture that can only feed 100 city bred folks think
that 50 will starve and die. Not so. The 150 will eat all the food then pull up
the roots and eat them too then all 150 starve and die. Same goes for deer, sea
lions and people.