By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
May 8, 2008
Clues are slim to none in who killed six sea
lions on Cascade Island near Bonneville Dam two days after the
animals were found dead.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries
Service are collaborating on the investigation; scant signs have
been found of who accessed an off-limits island, crept up on the
lions and shut a gate to trap the animals before shooting the
animals to death.
“The necropsies are done but I can’t speak this
morning officially to the cause. We did not find any bullets,”
said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for NMFS, Tuesday.
He did confirm that bullets would have passed
clear through the body if fired at close enough range.
Corps rangers patrol the traps twice daily and
found everything was fine at 7 p.m. Saturday. About noon on
Sunday, another inspection found the six dead animals, all of
whom are protected under various laws.
Gorman said the traps contained four California
sea lions and two Steller sea lions. All of the sea lions are
federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Steller sea lions are also protected as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act.
U.S. Army Corps spokeswoman Diana Freudland said
the agency is in the process of providing any information they
can including records and surveillance tapes. Cascade Island
falls within the zone encompassing the Bonneville Dam and
powerhouses that is off-limits except to authorized personnel.
While the fisheries agencies had been trapping
animals for relocation, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
spokesman Rick Hargrave said the program had been suspended. Of
the animals in the traps, only one, a California sea lion, had
been branded for relocation. Steller sea lions are not eligible
to be transferred out of the area. Gorman explained that the
traps are always present, tethered to the island by a rope, and
the sea lions are accustomed to hauling themselves up on the
platforms to rest.
“It’s standard practice to leave the gate open;
sea lions can swim out and up on the raft. They get used to
coming and going in the traps,” he said.
Gorman said while it’s not hard to figure out,
it’s very likely someone knew how the traps functioned and the
sea lions’ behaviors.
He said when found, the lions were evenly
distributed with two California and one Steller in each trap.
Hargrave said anyone with information that could aid in the
investigation should contact the Oregon State Police.
