Sea lions tend to get wise to these hazing tactics over time. Finally, I saw a sea lion head emerge, skimming the water hundreds of yards away at the boat lock entrance. They can stay submerged for up to 10 minutes, although they usually don’t stay down that long. He didn’t surface again for many minutes. In response to the explosive, the California Sea Lion bolted westward toward Puget Sound. I wasn’t even thinking “seal bomb” until the percussive effect of the firecracker, tossed right against retaining wall, rattled my feet and shook the railing. I thought someone had stupidly thrown a toy ball into the water. In my periphery, I saw an orange object tossed from the deck where the tourists congregated. The sea lion then submerged below the spillway and didn’t surface for a while. I caught the last few minutes of the scene: This, in turn, attracts gulls who go after the scattered fish fragments.
Sea lions generally kill the salmon quickly, but afterwards, they break the carcass into edible pieces by skimming it across the water. I was downstream from a large group of tourists watching the spectacle of the sea lion fishing. I was leaning on the rail, snapping a few shots of a California Sea Lion eating a Chinook salmon it caught near the fish ladder. As such, this was my first experience watching explosive sea lion deterrents in use at the Ballard Locks … ATF-regulated “seal control” devices most often known as “seal bombs.”
I’m a relatively new witness to the conflicts in the Pacific Northwest between humans, sea lions, salmon, tribes, dams, fish ladders, and fisher people. Note: Taking into account my title … no sea lions were harmed in the deployment of these “seal bombs.” There is, however, one dead salmon - a sea lion’s meal.
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