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Then I heard they are being killed at the Bonneville dam, and potentially anywhere else they were deemed a threat to salmon. The truth is, sea lions eat less than 4% of the salmon while fishermen catch an upwards of 12%, which was recently raised. I guess the state feels fisherman catching fish are more important than the lives of sea lions! This issue is so misunderstood by the public, due to lies from government agencies. The news reports that animals are being killed since they are sick and have cancer. The truth is about 40% of sea lions have a virus which can predispose the animal to a form of cancer, but 82% of these animals never contract cancer. The virus does not affect them living normal lives. Other sea lions were killed because they were considered overweight. The sea lions traveling up the Columbia are primarily male, trying to fatten up for mating season. Once again, the state is punishing the sea lions for doing something that is normal and natural for them.
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I am not the most educated about this issue, although I am trying to learn all I can. I encourage you to do the same! Please visit http://www.sealiondefensebrigade.org/ for more information.
What you can do!
* Write letters to the editor
* Educate your neighbors and co-workers
* Volunteer with Sea Lion Defense Brigade
* Donate money and other needs from their wish list
* Get on the “cool bus” April 16 for a field trip to Salem
* Contact the following agencies and people and let them know you want the sea lions left alone.
Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife Rick Hargrave 503-947-6020and cell 503-559-1592
Washington Dept of Fish & Wildlife Craig Bartlett 360-902-2259
US Amry Corps of Engineers Diana Fredlund 503-808-4514
NOAA Fisheries Garth Griffin 503-231-2005
Contact your legislators! To find out who they are and their contact information, go here http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
There is something everyone can do. Allow your voice to be heard!
4 comments:
Nice post... got me thinking about a statistic from the No Nonsense Guide to Animal Rights...
I think something like 1000 whales/dolphins/sea lions are killed EACH DAY by commercial fisherman actually going after tuna or something.
That is the sweetest picture of the sea lion at the top. Very sad. You are doing good things to help.
Thanks for posting this. I agree it's important to get the word out about it. I'll email my Oregon representative about it.
so glad i could hang out on the cool bus with you and take a stand! =)
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