Yes, it's both California and Steller Sea Lions that appear each spring at Bonneville dam on the Columbia to take advantage of Spring Chinook salmon and other fish. The Steller Sea Lions apparently have a preference for sturgeon and will take the large adults, spawners that are over 5 feet long. The numbers of sea lions appearing at Bonneville sounds like an increasing trend and the number of sturgeon also on the increase due to the relatively recent habit developed by the Steller Sea Lions.

A couple of weeks ago I visited the Nisqually River two days in a row to photograph a pair of California Sea Lions that were prowling around in the vicinity of the railroad crossing, occasionally coming up with a Chum Salmon. One of the two sea lions was branded.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington
----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis Paulson
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 12:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Harbor seal in Snoqualmie River


Scott,


Both Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions (and I think Steller's Sea Lions) go way up the Columbia River and some of its lower tributaries. I'm not sure how far, but in distance it's considerably farther than sightings in the Snoqualmie or Tolt rivers from salt water. I know the sea lions are considered pests below some of the Columbia River dams. Harbor Seals are in Harrison Lake, on the Harrison River, a tributary far up the Fraser River. Those salmon are just too attractive, and I think the smelt runs in the Columbia also attract the pinnipeds.


Dennis




On Feb 16, 2009, at 12:00 PM, tweeters-request at mailman2.u.washington.edu wrote:


Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:39:15 -0800

From: Scott R a y <mryakima at gmail.com>

Subject: [Tweeters] Harbor seal in Snoqualmie River




Brien,

In 1974, while floating the Tolt River a short distance upstream from

Carnation, we were surprised to see a harbor seal. This wasn't very far from

your sighting.




How common is it to find marine seals this far upstream I wonder. (yes,

there are non-marine seals)




Scott R a y



-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net








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