[CINC] Steller Sea Lion

[Ron Dreher]

Steller sea lion a real treat 


Peter Howorth 


 

July 13, 2008 12:00 AM

Why so much trouble over one sea lion? The eastern stock of this species is
threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This means it is likely to
become endangered, and endangered means likely to become extinct. Each
animal listed under the Endangered Species Act is important.

HHope arises when animals on the endangered species list begin appearing
where they have been absent for years. Does this mean they are beginning to
recover their numbers?

Perhaps. Or have they been driven here because conditions have deteriorated
in other parts of their range?

Blue and humpback whales, both of which are endangered, have shown up in the
Santa Barbara Channel every summer in varying numbers since the late 1980s.
If plenty of prey is present, they stay. If not, they may range from Mexico
to Washington in search of food.

Last month I wrote about a notable visitor to Santa Barbara: a Steller sea
lion, only the third confirmed report in Southern California since the
1982-1983 El Ni0x96o. Steller sea lions are threatened under the Endangered
Species Act. This particular animal was a 4- or 5-year-old male.

Two weeks later, the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center received a call
about a sea lion at Goleta Beach. I went there, seeing just what I expected
to see: a sea lion basking on the rocks.

Sea lions rarely come ashore along popular mainland beaches unless they are
ill, so I waded into the water near the rocks, hoping to capture it with a
large hoop net. The animal sensed me and positively exploded into the water
from the rocky cliff, narrowly avoiding the net.

I realized only then that it was another Steller sea lion.

Chagrined that I'd missed it, I hoped it would show up again. It was a bit
thin and didn't look entirely well. Sure enough, a few days later it hauled
out on the same rocks. This time we were ready. As one volunteer crept over
the rocks, another volunteer and I waited in the water under the rock. Again
it exploded into action, this time bouncing in and out of two of the nets
before escaping.

It turned up at Goleta Point a few days later, on a rock surrounded by water
during all but the lowest of tides. We decided to take advantage of a very
low tide predicted for the next morning. At 6 a.m., we were there ready for
action, but the sea lion was nowhere to be seen.

A few days ago, we received yet another call about a sea lion on the rocks
at Goleta Beach. Sure enough, the Steller, a male only a year or 2 old, had
returned. Arriving on the scene, I asked beachgoers to stay clear of the
animal because a rescue was about to be made. Meanwhile, I was busy on the
cell phone trying to reach other team members.

It took more than an hour to muster enough help. This time, I decided to
climb over the rocks myself. At 6-foot-6, I was the largest person on the
team and the least likely to be dragged off the cliff into the water if I
netted the animal. If I didn't net him, I hoped to drive him toward the team
members waiting below.

We went over the plan, and then everyone got into position. I crept along
the rocks, staying out of sight of the animal. I could see David Risdall,
one of our team, poised just under the animal. Natalie Nelson, I knew, was
out of sight but covering the other egress.


 

I dropped the net over the sea lion, but he flung it off and dove off the
cliff. Mr. Risdall was in the perfect spot to intercept it, which he did.
Thus ended one chapter in the saga of the fourth Steller sea lion reported
in Southern California over the past quarter of a century.

Why so much trouble over one sea lion? The Eastern stock of this species is
threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This means it is likely to
become endangered, and endangered means likely to become extinct. Each
animal listed under the Endangered Species Act is important.

The sea lion weighed only 170 pounds or so. For his length, he should have
weighed at least 250 pounds. He had an infected abscess on his neck, which
is responding well to treatment. With luck, he will be released in a few
weeks.

Why did two Steller sea lions appear over such a short period of time when
they had been virtually absent here for a quarter of a century? For the past
two or three months, northwesterly gales have been unusually frequent
offshore and to the north of us, possibly driving the animals south of their
usual range. These gales have also caused upwelling of cold water favored by
this species; even today, water temperatures at the west end of the channel
are in the mid 50s.

Regardless of the reason, though, seeing such animals this far south is a
rare treat.

Peter Howorth is director of the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center.

PHOTOS BY PETER HOWORTH

This young Steller sea lion was rescued by the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal
Center. It is only the fourth confirmed sighting of such an animal in
Southern California in the last quarter of a century and the first Steller
sea lion rescued by the center in its 32 years of operation.


 

 

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