Mission Bay Sea Lion Report 2/23
 

Been skunked a few times lately so I decided to try a late launch. Hit the water at 10 pm. Had a good night with 2 keepers but that's now what I am posting here about.

Any one else notice the Sea Lion's are getting worse? I literately got chased on my kayak by 2 big lions. They were bumping my kayak, pulling on my drive fins, going below me blowing bubbles up at me. One came right at my kayak and swam right by me within touching distance barking away. They chased me away from my hoops and wouldn't let me close for almost an hour. On the water alone, 12am, it is a little freaky. I almost swore off kayaking for lobster... But then my last net came up with a big spiny and I'm back on! :the_finger:

But seriously, what is the solution? I hate them tying to raid my hoops but I understand that's just part of the game. However, when they come after me, its a whole different story. I am about ready to start bringing my Hawaiian sling in case the really attack me.

wrist rocket and a handfull of marbles... :cool:

http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publicatio...m28/harass.htm

stole this from another thread on here read this it has some good infor but ultimately they are there to stay...

You know I was strongly considering this option with paintballs or something... I was just worried I would do more to upset the sea lion so that he would actually attack me. what do you think?

WristRocket and Paintballs
 

My local Sea Lions don't like my WristRocket and jar of paintballs...I believe marbles and bearings are illegal as they can harm the sweet little brown eyed BASTARDS...Kiyo gave me some extra hard paint balls that work really good.
A shot to the back of the head or neck works wonders. The look of surprise on their face is worth dragging the slingshot around.
Jim / Saba Slayer

Maybe slingshot and lead sinkers. No no but self defence shuldn't be limited to little bags of liquid. It has always been strange to me that saelions are treated so differently from every other large animal in our nation. Maybe because they don't eat people and rarely actually attack. Can you imagine having a bear, cougar, wolf, coyote, wolverine, even a badger charging to within feet of you or harrassing you for hours and your only legal defence is an f'n sling shot? "Get the paintballs out, that bear looks pissed". A surfing buddy of mine got taken off his board by a huge sealine and held down until he started to black out. I have been chased from the water by SLs in nor cal twice. Just plain scarey right there. I had a big bull pull that charge and roar shit on me and 4 year old daughter right in Dana harbor. Sorry for griping. Mike

.357 ?

Well, I thought pistols were legal to carry on a boat for self defense... does my kayak fall under the broad description of boat??? haha.

Thanks, heading to get a slingshot and some paintballs! When I freeze them, I will still be legal, and they will have the effect of a marble!

OK - taking the paintball idea one step further - a slingshot and a handfull of pepper balls...

I can only imagine the amount of trouble one would get in for shooting a sea lion even if it was totally legitimate and it was attacking you. Peta would be all over it haha. On the other hand big 5 does sell a relatively inexpensive paintball pistol and pepper balls can be purchased for it elsewhere

Yeah the animal rights people and DFW would be all over you for shooting one but the greater offense you would most likely be charged for is discharging a firearm within city limits. Not to mention if you were contacted by Law Enforcement shortly after, they would approach knowing you were armed and well, it will be unpleasant. :doh:

Try one of those air horns,it might work but I've never tried it.

Same thing happened to me last week in LJ..... 2 Sea lions kept bumpping my kayak, barking, and doing leaps right near me getting me wet for about 15mins before i paddled away... Only 1 Sea lion followed me for about 100yds then left me alone for the rest of the day. They werent phazed when i yelled or i tried to scare them by slapping my paddle near them when they surfaced.... Def sucked cuz i was out solo with no one else in the water because it was a cold weekday.

It could always be worse. Atleast we don't have leopard seals down here. :eek: Glad they only live in the Arctic, knowing that there's larger marine mammals like that are sea lions arnt so bad

Seal bombs still available?

This is direct from CA DFG FAQ's:

Q. Can private individuals do anything to prevent sea lions from invading and fouling our docks and boats?

A. All marine mammals are protected and managed by the federal government, under the stewardship of the National Marine Fisheries Service (the State has no jurisdiction). The 1994 Amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act gave property owners and government officials the authority to protect private and public property by deterring sea lions, provided the acts do not result in serious injury or death to the animal. Recreational fishermen can deter sea lions from damaging their gear and catch, again provided that the acts of deterrence do not result in serious injury or death to the animal. Methods may involve preventing access, acoustic devices, seal bombs, boat hazing, spraying with water, or lightly prodding. One cannot break skin, or direct an act at the head or eyes of the sea lion, or direct acts at seal lions that are hauled out on rocks or beaches. Firearms, crossbows, spearguns, harpoons, javelins, arrows, spears, or other similar devices are prohibited. Relocating sea lions or offering them tainted fish or other consumables is also prohibited.

Now that's funny right there...great description...:eek: kinda like that...lol

Once on an overnight boat out of h&m, the deck hand tied a surface iron on and nailed a sea lion that was going for baracuda on the line. He quickly dissapeared.:the_finger:

Good stuff.

That does sound freaky, glad you got back to your pots and even scored!

I agree, the seals seem more aggressive lately.

These guys from LJ like to eat yellowtail. Not that they had a problem stealing fish before. These guys like to take cheap shots at our tired yts, close to the gaff. That's lame. We must discourage them from picking up that habit.

The new folks, don't forget - you'll catch that first big fish... never hang your fish by the side of your kayak, in the water. Keep it on board, fully. They will try to steal your fish. They will pull violently, they may end up rolling you off of your kayak. It happened before.

Majority of these seals are not the big ol' knothead kind, territorial bulls. These guys are youngsters. The other day we were chasing one for an hour. Kept running away from the boat, surfacing with my yt's tail firmly in his jaws... turning back and looking at me like "wtf are you following me, I caught this fish". :rolleyes: Wore me out seriously, my back hurt for days. Finally the line broke, he got my fish.

I wasn't too heartbroken - we kept a few samples from that flock earlier for our culinary research. :D

Hate to find an excuse for these seals, could it be because the little ones are around?
The new generation of pups is out there. And there's a TON of them.

That's another thing that bums me out - these little guys are not too bright. :(
They still haven't learned about us having hooks and line attached to our baits. And that we use jigs, big pieces of iron with hooks attached.
They're learning. :rolleyes:
They even hit the jig! :eek:
The other night we had 5 seals hookups. :eek:

And you know the next thing that happens -
the pup swims out to the beach with my Tady 9 Glow in the dark lip job. :angel:
Right there in front of our horrified local seal lovers supporter groups... :leaving:

I am very sorry. I did not intend to do any business with that animal.