Sea lions in the dozens have spent the last few weeks indulging on fish after stealthily breaking into an industrial salmon farm in western Canada – and ignoring all attempts to make them leave.
Photo: wallyg
Sea lions (and seals) are, in many ways, the dogs of the sea – they are even relatively closely related to canines evolutionary-wise. They hunt in packs, for instance, and will do anything for a snack, as workers at the Rant Point farm, near Tofino in British Columbia, had to learn recently.
A horde of sea lions managed to slip into the industrial salmon farm after successfully getting past the netting and electric fences designed to keep them away from the abundant bounty within. Sure enough, they immediately started gorging themselves silly on fish and have been doing so ever since.
Photo: Jeremy Mathieu/Clayoquot Action
“They are having an all-you-can-eat buffet right now,” Bonny Glambeck, who works for local environmental group Clayoquot Action, told CBC.
Owned by Oslo-based aquaculture giant Cermaq, the Rant Point fishery can hold up to 500,000 farmed salmon – a perfect environment for the sea lions, who normally hunt by corralling their prey into a given place and then picking off individuals one-by-one.
It’s “the equivalent of putting a cattle feedlot in the middle of Banff National Park and then being surprised when the bears and wolves show up,” Glambeck told the Toronto Star.
The fact that the sea lions managed to get into the farm probably has to do with the onset of the harvesting season, Cermaq said in a statement shared with the Star. While the fish are normally kept separate from the surrounding waters by a series of net fences, the harvesting process opens up “opportunities for access” not otherwise present, the company explained.
Of course, seeing a bunch of sea-doggos living their best life may be pleasing for the soul, but it may not be so good for the animals themselves. Needless to say, giant corporations hate having their product stolen from right under their noses, and Cermaq is no exception. The company is trying everything they can to get rid of the unwanted herd.
“Attempts to deter the sea lions and to remove them from the net pens, with least harm to the animals, have been ongoing in consultation with DFO [Fisheries and Oceans Canada] biologists,” DFO authorities told CTV.
And although there’s a “strict requirement” that no sea lions are killed, the department said, the animals have so far “not been deterred by passive deterrent efforts to remove them” – including attempts to scare them away with loud bangs.
“I think the longer they stay, the more habituated they become and all the noises and other things just become part of the background noise,” Andrew Trites, director of UBC’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, told CTV. “[So] it’s not going to be effective.”
Photo: Katy Silberger
So for now, Rant Point is locked in a harvest-off between farm workers and sea lions. And even if the latter eventually decide to leave, that may not be the end of the problem. There are worries that the sea lions will become habituated to humans and once the salmon are gone, turn to the 14 other farms in the area.
Well, lions, let’s sea.
Sources: 1, 2, 3
