Should you one day find yourself in Astoria, Oregon strolling alongside the lower Columbia River and looking out at the boats in the East Mooring Basin, you may suddenly realize that the docks look a bit lumpy.
The “lumps” are a herd of California Sea Lions, Zalophus californianus, that has now been more or less in residence on these docks for nearly two decades.
Aside from taking a large bite (both statistically and literally) out of the migrating salmon population, they primarily lounge and sleep on these docks.
The problem with this sleeping arrangement is that in addition to being a hazard to the owners and crews of the boats moored in the basin (California Seal Lion bulls can weigh over six hundred pounds, have large teeth, are faster out of the water than would be expected, and can be remarkably aggressive), they swamp and often permanently damage the docks upon which they congregate.
While they are a popular attraction for tourists to the area, they are anything but cute to many of the locals who know just how much of a wildlife management challenge they can truly be.
Equipment used for sea lion close-ups:
Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Swarovski ATS 80 HD spotting scope
Swarovski 25-50x W eyepiece
Swarovski UCA (Universal Camera Adapter)
Swarovski Carbon CT101 tripod
