{"id":1357,"date":"2015-09-09T06:07:24","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T14:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/?p=1357"},"modified":"2025-12-05T22:43:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T07:43:16","slug":"wildlife-wednesday-sea-lions-under-siege-from-marine-debris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/alaska-news\/wildlife-wednesday-sea-lions-under-siege-from-marine-debris\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife Wednesday — Sea Lions Under Siege from Marine Debris"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Gastineau Guiding<\/a> Captain Annette Smith recently\u00a0captured this heart-wrenching photo of an injured Steller sea lion at<\/span>\u00a0Little Island <\/a>in Favorite Channel just north of Juneau. <\/span><\/p>\n

“I called NOAA and reported it,” Annette said. ”\u00a0Don’t know what, if\u00a0 anything they did, or can do. That’s a heck of a neck wound on this guy.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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It looks to me like it may have got entangled in a fishing line or box banding, two very common sources of\u00a0neck entanglements.\u00a0The<\/span> National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a> (NOAA) has a<\/span> fisheries division<\/a> that operates the<\/span> Alaska Stranded Marine Mammal Network<\/a> that is tasked with researching and rescuing\u00a0 injured, entangled or dead whales, seals and sea lions. Quite often, individuals like Captain Annette notify\u00a0the\u00a0Network staff\u00a0of\u00a0creatures in distress, dying or dead.<\/span><\/p>\n

The NOAA website states that most stranded animals are found dead, but some strand alive. Whales, orcas,\u00a0sea lions, seals, otters, birds and even sharks\u00a0get entangled in nets, monofilament fishing line\u00a0and other marine debris\/trash. NOAA has<\/span> a website page <\/a>that specifically addresses seal and sea lion entanglement\u00a0and ways to reduce entanglement incidents. According to\u00a0th<\/span>e NOAA Fisheries\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0website, many\u00a0seals and sea lions in Alaska unnecessarily suffer or die\u00a0after ingesting fishing gear or getting caught in marine debris. \u00a0The key is not rescuing entangled marine life, but to\u00a0prevent entanglements in the first place by reducing marine debris.<\/span><\/p>\n

“In a limited number of cases, it is possible to transport individuals to regional rehabilitation centers, with the objective of returning them to the wild,” the\u00a0Network’s website\u00a0states. “Marine debris adversely impacts at least 260 marine species, including marine mammals, sea turtles and sea birds. Marine debris is any man-made object discarded, disposed or, or abandoned that enters the marine environment.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, not much can be done to help entangled adult seas lions. There is no easy, efficient, humane\u00a0or safe method to capture adults or sub-adult sea lions. Injured sea lions can be aggressive, and\u00a0with weights around half a ton, capturing a male sea lion is dangerous undertaking\u00a0for rescuers\u00a0and the sea lion. So why don’t rescuers just sedate sea lions using a dart gun?\u00a0A fearful or agitated sea lion will likely head to the safety of the ocean where it will drown once the sedative kicks in.\u00a0 According to a video produced by the Alaska Department of Fish\u00a0 and Game, rescuers are exploring the use of a net gun to capture injured or entangled sea lions<\/span>.\u00a0SEE VIDEO BELOW<\/span>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hfuln4GssN0<\/p>\n

As captain of a whale watching vessel and an avid fisherman, Annette spends countless hours on the water observing wildlife. She captured this photo of a Steller sea lion with a salmon flasher\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>hanging from its mouth. There is a hook at the end of the flasher. “Sometimes sea lions play a dangerous game,” Annette said.\u00a0 “They take a hooked salmon off a fisherman’s gear or attempt to snag a fish froms\u00a0 a fishing net.\u00a0 Sometimes they are successful and they get the fish, sometimes, they fail and they get the gear.\u00a0 This one lost his gamble!”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"This<\/h6>\n
Photo Courtesy of NOAA Fisheries<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

When an injured sea lion or seal is rehabilitated, it is often branded so researcher can monitor the mammal’s recovery, habits, migration and health. I\u00a0often see\u00a0branded sea lions resting on Little and Benjamin islands.\u00a0 NOAA Fisheries’ Protected Resources Division page,<\/span> Pinniped Branding on the West Coast<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>states\u00a0that “brands\u00a0 provide a permanent marking that allows scientists to gather information over a long period of time from known individuals in a population. Branded animals can be easily observed from a distance without disturbing them or other animals around them, and because the marks are permanent the animals can be followed throughout their entire life.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tattooed<\/a>
Photo by Aleta Walther \u00a9 2015<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/a>Alaska’s Steller sea lions were listed as endangered in 1990 because of a dramatic decline in their overall population. Subsequently, the population was split into two distinct stocks, Western and\u00a0Eastern stocks. Today, the Western Stock is still listed as endangered while the Eastern Stock, Southeast Alaska’s sea lions, were\u00a0delisted in 2013. Although no longer endangered under the<\/span> Endangered Species Act<\/a>, Steller sea lions are still protected under the<\/span> Marine Mammals Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I am hoping the Steller sea lion remains protected\u00a0.\u00a0I never tire of seeing\u00a0them fishing for herring alongside humpback whales,\u00a0jostling for a dry spot on a buoy, or battling for king of the harem status during mating season.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2666\u2666\u2666<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0All text, videos or photos copyright by Aleta Walther\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>
or respective copyright holders, 2015<\/strong><\/span>
<\/span>Naturalist, Outdoor Excursion Guide, CIG, CTA, ATG<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/strong>
<\/b><\/span><\/b>CONTACT: <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0aleta@prwriterpro.com<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Gastineau Guiding Captain Annette Smith recently\u00a0captured this heart-wrenching photo of an injured Steller sea lion at\u00a0Little Island in Favorite Channel just north of Juneau. “I called NOAA and reported it,” Annette said. ”\u00a0Don’t know what, if\u00a0 anything they did, or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,106,26,57,23,59,58,30],"tags":[3,133,134,135,127,128,79,4,131,132,75,129,74,62,126,66,125,136,13,130,122,123,124],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1357"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2049,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357\/revisions\/2049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}