Sea lions shot dead on Columbia River
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- JanforGore
- added this
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- related topics
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- Environment (2422)
- Salmon (15)
- Sea Lions (8)
- Endangered Species Act (6)
- Columbia River (4)
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. 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.
On Sunday, the carcasses of four California sea lions and two Steller sea lions were found below the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River on the border of Oregon and Washington.
The six animals found dead Sunday appear to have been shot by somebody on the Washington side during the night, said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Two closed cages each contained the carcasses of two California sea lions and one Steller sea lion, he said.
Necropsies were planned for all the animals, and the area was being treated as a crime scene by state and federal agencies, Gorman said.
Investigators will try to determine whether there is any link between the animals killed Sunday on the Columbia River and the elephant seals killed Saturday near San Simeon in California, Gorman said.
Washington and Oregon have been granted federal authorization to capture or kill as many as 85 sea lions a year for five years at the base of the dam, where they feed on endangered salmon headed upriver to spawn.
Fishermen and American Indian tribes have pushed to protect the salmon and remove the sea lions, by lethal force if necessary, forcing a delicate balancing act by the federal government.
Seven California sea lions were trapped on the Columbia River starting April 24 after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals approved their capture. One died during a medical inspection before being transferred to a marine amusement park.
The Humane Society of the United States has gone to court to challenge the authorization, with another hearing set for May 8. Until a judge rules, no animals may be legally killed.
The discovery came one day after three elephant seals were found shot to death at a breeding ground in central California.
On Sunday, the carcasses of four California sea lions and two Steller sea lions were found below the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River on the border of Oregon and Washington.
The six animals found dead Sunday appear to have been shot by somebody on the Washington side during the night, said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Two closed cages each contained the carcasses of two California sea lions and one Steller sea lion, he said.
Necropsies were planned for all the animals, and the area was being treated as a crime scene by state and federal agencies, Gorman said.
Investigators will try to determine whether there is any link between the animals killed Sunday on the Columbia River and the elephant seals killed Saturday near San Simeon in California, Gorman said.
Washington and Oregon have been granted federal authorization to capture or kill as many as 85 sea lions a year for five years at the base of the dam, where they feed on endangered salmon headed upriver to spawn.
Fishermen and American Indian tribes have pushed to protect the salmon and remove the sea lions, by lethal force if necessary, forcing a delicate balancing act by the federal government.
Seven California sea lions were trapped on the Columbia River starting April 24 after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals approved their capture. One died during a medical inspection before being transferred to a marine amusement park.
The Humane Society of the United States has gone to court to challenge the authorization, with another hearing set for May 8. Until a judge rules, no animals may be legally killed.
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- JanforGore
- 11 days ago
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Quite a balancing act. So in order to protect the salmon they have to trap the sea lions? Who would kill them and how did they get access to them?
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- JanforGore
- 11 days ago
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yeah right, they're probably linked. i'm sure there's a group of people out there who are extremely anti-sea lion.
the more i read current news, the less i like humans.-
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- innocent_criminal
- 11 days ago
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sea lions are cool. humans suck.
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i've never had sea lion sushi .
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What is the sport involved in shooting caged animals? That's just sick. We used to have a park here where they had a herd of deer caged (large, open, natural habitat) and one night some sicko shot them. The whole herd. Just sick.
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This is terrible news! Wow, the human animal is destroying everything around.
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rednecks should not be allowed to own guns .
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You know those sea lions eat way more than their share of fish. Just look at them all overweight like they are. Gluttons.
I guess they ate one salmon tooo many for the good law abiding and God fearing fishermen out here in California and Washington.-
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- VoyagerFilms
- 10 days ago
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Just the thought of actually killing something or someone already in captivity shows the same mentality of our military. Seems that mentality is all around as we are seeing the slow breaking down of society due to the atmosphere we live in. Kill kill kill all the time. And will this government fervently look for the killer or killers? They were just animals afterall. I agree with innocent_criminal, the more I read the less I like human beings.
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- JanforGore
- 10 days ago
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Oh well
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This is just horrible. I'm sure there are plenty of reasonable things to do about the salmon+dam+sea lion situation instead of KILLING them, it's just that no one wants to spend the time and effort.
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maybe if we weren't raping our oceans with dragnets and overfishing to a point that 90% of the ocean's large fish were eliminated, maybe we wouldn't have this problem to begin with.
then there would be plenty of salmon for both the sea lions and the local fishermen.
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when you choose to kill an animal, you eat it. otherwise, there is no reason to kill an animal. well, unless its diseased or something. but you know what i mean.
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The seals need to be removed from this part of the river. The population is growing and is going unchecked. There are way too many bleeding hearts on this issue who don't understand the issues.
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- ahabdearab
- 10 days ago
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BLEEDING HEARTS? You don't have to KILL them to MOVE them.
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- JanforGore
- 10 days ago
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Humans should stop interfering with food chains and simply let nature take its toll.
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Just more evidence as to why people can't be trusted with guns.
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