Ports and marinas across the West Coast are struggling with an increasing sea lion population, and the Westport Marina is no different.
Port of Grays Harbor officials mentioned the issue at a Port commissioner meeting in May. The animals, whose population has grown steadily over the last decade, cause damage to the floats and mooring dolphins, and overrun areas needed to store boats at the marina, Leonard Barnes, the Port’s Deputy Executive Director, said at the meeting.
Port officials are concerned about human-sea lion encounters. Barnes cited an incident from April when a sea lion in San Diego jumped for a fisherman’s catch as he held the fish for a photo. The animal bit down on the man’s hand, dragging him under water.
Westport Marina Manager Robin Leraas said almost every day she sees visitors getting dangerously close to the animals to take selfies with sea lions in the background.
“We’ve even seen parents take their kids down there, and it’s like, what are you doing?” Leraas said. “So, we have to try to educate them on the dangers of the sea lions.”
Although the sea lions have become an attraction for the area, Leraas said the marina’s main business is to lease space to moor boats. That can’t happen, she said, at a marina overrun with sea lions.
Leraas said she’s brought the issue to lawmakers both at the state and federal level, and would ideally like to see the sea lions relocated. The funding for that, she said, just isn’t available. Leraas added only about five sea lions frequented the area in 2000. She estimates that number has since swelled to about 100.
The temporary solution, Leraas said, has been to patrol the docks and haze the animals with audible deterrents or water hoses. But once marina workers leave the area, they climb back on the docks.
The marina has since partnered with Smith-Root, a Vancouver, Wash.-based company whose products include electronic mats that deter sea lions from hauling out on docks. The company recently spent time in Westport doing field tests.
Gary Bock, a Smith-Root spokesperson, said the tests showed positive results. Leraas couldn’t say whether the marina would start using the mats anytime soon, adding that it was a decision for the Port’s commissioners.
Though sea lions are protected under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, the act also lists a provision that allows for nuisance abatement, said Steve Jeffries, a research scientist for the state Department of Fish & Wildlife who specializes in marine mammals.
The marina’s issue, Jeffries said, isn’t unique to other areas across the state. The influx of sea lions to ports along the coast is a result of their dwindling food source, a problem that’s occurred over the last five years, he added.
“Marinas from Brookings (Ore.) to Neah Bay … all have sea lions in the marinas,” he said. “If they’re allowed to, they’ll take over a marina because it’s just an easy place to haul out.”
Jeffries, who has worked directly with the Westport Marina in addressing its own sea lion issue, said the problem is further exacerbated by fishermen who feed sea lions with fish scraps. Feeding the animals, he said, is illegal.
“If you get too close to them, they’re going to bite you,” he said. “Ask people if they’d take a selfie with a bear going through the garbage can in their back yard. I don’t think so.”
