West Seattle (offshore) scene: Sea lions sighted – oh, buoy!

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news | Wildlife

You can hear them from Don Armeni, Jack Block, and Seacrest, and vicinity – but unless you’re out on the water, or have binoculars, no closeup look. Patrick McCaffrey provides us with a view of the sea lions that hang out off Harbor Avenue – from a distance and close up.

Thanks to Patrick and the other fine photographers who share photos here – if you have a photo to share, here are the various ways to share it!

seewhatsealionsstart May 23, 2011 (8:17 pm)

Sealions are so excellent. Your photos too Patrick.

cjboffoli May 23, 2011 (10:56 pm)

Geez. Real estate is really at a premium out there. Maybe it is time to add another platform.

Meghan May 24, 2011 (5:54 am)

A big pile of sea lions! What a great pic!

Jiggers May 24, 2011 (7:46 am)

The feds passed a new law last month to protect salmon runs. It is legal to kill sealions now. I guess the seals didn’t get the memo.

Cowpie May 24, 2011 (7:57 am)

I agree….more platforms would be great. Mankind has basically taken the beaches from them over the past 150 years. They need some place to rest and sleep.

Kathleen May 24, 2011 (8:18 am)

We saw and heard these guys/gals from the beach last week, and twice a sailboat got really close to the buoy. The sea lions started barking like crazy and some jumped in the water to get away. :(

Jiggers May 24, 2011 (8:36 am)

They are staking out there territory getting ready to chomp down on that salmon run coming up soon.

Hebb May 24, 2011 (9:42 am)

Sea Lions are not the same as seals.

WSB May 24, 2011 (9:47 am)

And I know that. Good Lord, what was I thinking. Changing!

Jiggers May 24, 2011 (9:53 am)

I caught my mistake…lol

seewhatsealionsstarts May 24, 2011 (5:10 pm)

@ Jiggers-Maybe I misunderstood your post but I read it as anyone can kill them. It is not legal to kill sea lions, they are protected under the MMPA. National Marine Fisheries Service recently authorized wildlife managers in Oregon and Washington to resume trapping and killing a set number of sea lions per year for 3 years. Salmon do need to be protected but, the justification for authorizing the killings is based in the notion that the sea lions are depleting the salmon runs. Depleting them by eating what they were born to eat in a situation beneath the Bonneville Dam humans created. We are an odd and interesting species

sealions May 24, 2011 (5:29 pm)

We were down there blowing bubbles and could hear them they were so loud. It’s great to see this pic because you can’t see them close up.

Eric May 24, 2011 (8:47 pm)

Luckily you can’t smell them! Please ring the bell for the transient Orca smorgasbord.
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All kidding aside, it always amazes me that the first one can get on that buoy. With 20 on there it sinks pretty low but when it is empty, it is quite a leap.

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