Oh, that just breaks my heart! I do feel so sorry for the sea lions and all the animals and sea life that suffer as a result of the idiocy of so many people that can't or don't think of anything beyond themselves! Thanks for keeping us posted.
That is so sad, why do the sea lions bark and bark? Are they hungry? What can be done for them? I was in Artarctica last Janurary and there were so many sea lions, of all kinds, it was amazing to see them. They were happy there. What happens with the California coast, polluted waters, not enough fish for them? Too much holiday traffic at sea? Do please keep us posted.
Why are they hungry? Is Celeste right?
You mean that if left alone, the sea lions would have stayed on the dinghy, even with all those people close by? That would have been so cool.
How incredibly sad! People don't realize that if the seas quit producing enough food, the end result will be disastrous for us also. So short-sighted
I keep hearing NPR stories about the depleted fisheries; fished out coastal waters and the trawlers moving further out to sea; scientists trying to get the catch limits changed to give them a chance to recuperate and the politicians who cave in and only do things in half measures if at all...
I watch the death and rebirth of the industry I gave my life to and know that this one, too, must change though when it reaches the point mine did we shall all be suffering right along with the sea lions!
alan
we are fishing the ocean to death. And pollution is killing our baby orca. Salmon farms are killing native salmon. Japan is killing whales by the hundreds, the list goes on and on.
it never seems to stop.
to clarify: sea lions bark and bark no matter what. that's just who they are! I remember living very close to the water many years ago and hearing them bark all night long.
great photos, R.! I love the pelican flying through the first shot.
I too have been reading about the sea lions. Older daughter saw a program about the pups being born severely malnourished and unable to thrive-to the point of seeming mentally deficient. It's real. We are destroying mother ocean.
So sad to see the pups starving to death and realize there is no help for most of them.
Robin - you mentioned this awhile back. Has there been any idea of what is causing the hunger and exhaustion? Hypoxia that's been reported off Oregon and Washington in the last couple of years, or kelp forest decline?
The unceremonious dumping of the resting sea lions from the dinghy sounds just meanspirited. As you've been listening to or reading local chatter have you had an impression of polarization between people? I can imagine that there would be a group that begins to understand this is a problem (or more likely a symptom of a more fundamental problem) and those who are shouting "get off my lawn."
Disturbing, in any event.
It is so ironic that fishermen view the sea lions as competition for THEIR (the humans') resources. I think this illustrates starkly who the demon is in this battle for resources.
Up here, commercial fisherman shoot sea lions that are around their boats. Payback is a bitch, though... fishing is pretty much over.
What's going on out there? Pelicans, sea lions...it's all very sad. I first fell in love with these mammals while kayaking the Inside Passage. Years later, I had the opportunity to "know" four of them, up close and personally, while working at LPZoo. They normally have a life span up to three decades and it's heart breaking to see the pups in the video wasting away. Under different circumstances it would make me smile to see them coming aboard.
Is there an El Nino type event going on? That causes periodic crashes in the plankton-fish-fisheater populations on the west coast of the Americas.
How cool that they found a nice place to rest, even if for just a short time.
Dear President Obama:
Please, 86 the space program and re-allocate those funds toward repairing our oceans. Please.
Love,
Zilla
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