Posted by Brad on October 01, 2002 at 20:00:50:
In Reply to: Re: Actually... posted by Eagle Ray on October 01, 2002 at 09:32:40:
It does my heart so good to hear you and others talking about their concern for sea lions. I think they are absolutely wonderful creatures in so many ways. I have swam with dozens of pups many times. I have spent countless nights anchored below the rookeries and have had them chirp and giggle all night long just inches away. I've been splashed awake many times. I have witnessed many heart rendering scenes where the mothers are weening their pups, making them swim off beach into the safety of the night. I have seen the mothers ever so patiently struggle up steep cliffs with their pups. I have seen incredible reunions, gut wrenching separations. I have seen the sweetness that the bulls show toward the pups in the water. I have seen the maternal instincts of the mature females toward the rafts of juviniles. I have seen the desperate kinship of the newly weened pups, so sweet on one another...
I suspect that those who have a callous attitude toward them have never actually spent time with them. They claim there are too many sea lions, but if they ever took the time to travel around the bight, they would know that it simply isn't true. There is much prime habitat around some of our islands that could be populated. If there were too many sea lions, those areas would surely be occupied, yet they remain vacant. It has also been said that they eat too many fish. That again, is spoken by someone who simply doesn't know what they are talking about. I swim at places that have literally thousands of sea lions and pups and those places consistantly hold a diversity of fish species that you simply will not find anywhere along the coast....
Sea lions feed primarily on perch and blacksmith, sardines, anchove, etc but will eat other fish such as flying fish when they are availavle. Before the sea lions were almost driven to extinction by the fur trade, they co-existed with the greatest and most abundant fish populations our waters have ever had.
Within every specie there are the warriers, those individuals that posess the greatest territorial instincts. The sea lions that follow the boats are the bold warriers trying to survive in an adulterated environment. They should be be looked at with praise for their bravery, for they are the ones that would otherwise ensure the survival of the species.
Eagle Ray, i implore you to contact the authorities and the landing operators and simply tell them the truth about what you witnessed. It is absolutely unacceptable to do harm to any sea lion for any reason. I carry a video recorder with me at all times, and if i ever see anyone harming a sea lion i WILL tape them and i WILL turn it over to the authorities for prosecution.
Callousness toward animals is a disease of the soul`
Those of us who love the sea have a moral obligation to protect the animals from the callous abuse of those who only use the sea...
Brad
(loves the sea)