Sea Lions Invade Bonneville Dam Again

The California sea lions have come back to Bonneville Dam, in Oregon, to enjoy the salmon that are migrating up stream to spawn. The spring Chinook swim up The Columbia River each year and both the California and Stellar sea lions try to take advantage of the fresh rush of available food supplies.

The sea lions wait at the bottom of the dam, at the base of the fish ladders, in order to catch them before they make their way up the ladders to spawning grounds.

Some of the more notorious sea lions are recognized by sea lion spotters and identified by individual characteristics or government brands.

The most infamous California sea lion, is named C404 after it's state and federally applied brand. C404 was able to out maneuver human attempts to warn him off, and found a way to get directly into the Bonneville Dam fish ladders and feast.

The fishing ladders were created in order to help migrating salmon and steelhead get past the dams and to reach their natural spawning grounds. The Columbia River has two fishing ladders, one on either side. The ladder is a series of small man made steps, that allow the fish to leap from one level to the next, climbing up on the way around the dam, while migrating towards their spawning grounds.

The California sea lion is protected by The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Stellar sea lions being fewer in number, are more endangered and protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Both species began to appear in larger numbers in the area about 1990.

The government employees are not permitted to shoot the sea lions, so they have to resort to less drastic measures in order to keep the sea lions away from the spawning grounds. They have used rubber bullets, firecrackers and other noises in order to scare away the Stellar, but similar methods used against the California sea lions, have not met with success in the past. The most the federal and state employees can do is to hopefully scare the sea lions off and harass them into staying away. The methods have been more successful with the stellars than the Californians.

The government employees began their vigilant daily dawn to dusk watch on the 1st of March. By mid-April, the numbers of salmons returning to spawn will have increased , as will the sea lions attempts to reap the benefits of the annual event. They are estimated to consume about 3 percent of the salmon before the fish are able to climb the fishing ladders and spawn.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070326/ap_on_sc/sea_lions_salmon;_ylt=AuYCueCGPec9cCD4vdLDWdKzvtEF
http://www.oregonlink.com/flyfishing/historicphotos/fishladder.html