VANCOUVER ISLAND, Canada (26 Apr 2002) -- Nearly 30 California sea lions and harbour seals have been slaughtered, their carcasses washed up on Vancouver Island beaches. "A lot of them had been shot in the head," Trevor Fields, federal Fisheries Department conservation and protection supervisor officer, said from Nanaimo. It appears the shooter used a rifle. The bodies of 19 California sea lions, nine harbour seals and one river otter have been found on the high tide line after the killing spree. While some are fresh kills, other carcasses are beginning to decompose. It is illegal under the federal Fisheries Act to harm sea lions. A conviction under a summary offence allows for a fine of up to $100,000 and under an indictable offence of up to $500,000. "The department is extremely concerned about this incident," Marilyn Joyce, Fisheries Department marine mammal co-ordinator, said from Vancouver. Carcasses have been spray painted with large red numbers for identification and are being left where they are. Most are in Kulleet Bay, a fairly remote area with few houses, northeast of Ladysmith. Investigators have no suspects, Fields said Thursday. Sea lions are criticized by some people who believe they eat too much fish. "You've got someone out there who could not care less about the environment, who is just willfully killing things," Field said. "It is a totally unacceptable practice." Rifle bullets can skip on water and travel long distances, he said. "It's dangerous. It's irresponsible. It's careless. It is just plain stupid." After the body of a sea lion washed on shore last weekend in Ladysmith, fisheries officers walked the shore between Yellow Point and Chemainus and found the carcasses. It appears that some were shot recently while others may have been killed two weeks ago. Some were killed by a single bullet hole near the ear, Fields said. In other cases, bullet wounds were not immediately apparent. The First Nations band at Chemainus and their fisheries guardians are helping fisheries officers in the investigation. It's likely the sea lions were killed in shallow water where they would have gone to feed on herring, said Peter Olesiak, pinniped expert at the Fisheries Department' Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo. | | "They will gorge themselves and they will actually sleep in the water where the herring are spawning." Olesiak examined about half the sea lion bodies, saying they are all sub-adult and adult males weighing between 225 and 360 kilograms and reaching up to two metres in length. Population numbers for California sea lions in B.C. waters have been holding steady for several years at between 2,000 and 3,000 animals, said Olesiak, who conducted two surveys this year. Numbers for 2002 appeared to be a little lower at about 1,600 to 1,700 but not all the aerial survey photographs have been analysed and some animals may have been further north than the survey area. Only males show up in B.C. to fatten up during the winter before heading south in April and May for breeding grounds off California and Mexico. Some of the dead males had been branded by U.S. researchers looking into migration patterns, Olesiak said. There are an estimated 108,000 harbour seals in B.C., Olesiak said. Two years ago a pit of dead sea lions was found in Clayoquot Sound, shot by a fish farmer, frustrated because they were eating farmed fish. Industry has improved its technology to cut back on the numbers of seals and sea lions killed. No net cage fish farms are in the area of the recent kills. Anyone with information can call the Fisheries Department's tips line at 1-800-465-4336 or the Nanaimo Fisheries office at 754-0235. SOURCE - Victoria TimesSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
