SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — San Francisco has a serious population problem — huge numbers of sea lions are crowding out the locals, and while the maritime mammals might look cute, some have gotten very aggressive.
After an especially strong breeding season, the sea lions are not only thriving, they are crowding into commercial fishing harbors, and sparking a turf war at public beaches.
"One bumped against me three times, then he went and nipped my little toe," San Francisco swimmer Sarah McCusky told FOX News.
But it's no laughing matter for Bay Area fishermen who complain the thousand-pound mammals are damaging docks and blocking their boats.
"They take over berths and make it difficult for fishermen to get to their boats, and really make it hard for people to do their jobs," Peter Dailey, Deputy Director of the Port of San Francisco, told FOX News.
The Port of San Francisco plans to make the docks sea lion-proof, installing 200-feet of mesh rubber barricade. And if that doesn't work, there are other options.
"There are humane ways you can make their lives miserable. You can be like an noisy neighbor, you can turn on loud music, you can have lights flashing on them, you can hose them down," Dailey told FOX News.
The animals are protected under federal law and as Sarah McCusky points out, they were there first. But she and other swimmers don't feel entirely safe in the water with half-ton carnivores.
"I think it's made us all a little bit more anxious about exactly where we will swim to," McCusky said.
One cause for hope? Crab season starts soon, and scientists say that the arrival of more boats, noise, and dockside activity may pursuade these sea lions to leave on their own.
FOX News' Claudia Cowan contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,561 ... latestnews
I thought this was a fairly interesting story. I was in the Daly City/San Francisco area this past weekend (2nd through the 5th) visiting a couple friends and family of mine. My grandpa took me around SF, I got to go see the Golden Gate Bridge and saw Alcatraz from a distance and we also went down to Fisherman's Wharf, visiting Pier 39. The pier used to be used by fishermen, but the Sea Lions came in and took over the docks, the city wanted to get rid of them but decided not to because they were drawing all kinds of tourists to the area (thus making more money there from tourism than fishing) and the fishermen moved down a few piers.
The docks have been floated out into the water and anchored down specifically for the Sea Lions, but I also saw them on peoples' boats that were moored on the docks nearby. I can also speak for their aggression; I am not certain if it would relate to humans, but I know quite a few were basically "playing" King of the Floating Dock so to speak. They were knocking each other off and pushing into each other. While it looked like fun (who doesn't like king of the hill?) and was cute, at the same time you can't help but wonder "What if that was a human they were knocking into?"
Here are a couple pictures I took from the Sea Lion Cafe, which overlooks the docks the sea lions were all on, so you guys can get an idea of just how many there are!
Here is the (almost) overall view of the docks with the Sea Lions:
Here is a close up picture I took of the left side:
Here is another close up further towards the right side...notice how a lot of them are stacked ontop of each other! It was not uncommon to see a sea lion trying to wriggle free from underneath another, then walk all over the rest of the ones on the dock in an effort to get to the water:
