A wandering sea lion swam up the Chehalis River found its way onto a farm near Oakville
It’s not unusual for an ornery bull to leave his designated space and try to join a herd of cows on his own terms.
Typically, though, sea lions aren’t found doing the same thing.
Regardless of what may be typical, a male sea lion did recently manage to find his way to the fenceline of a few curious cows and a pair of perplexed farmers near Oakville.
“This was definitely a unique call which I have not had in 16 years as a fish and wildlife officer,” wrote Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police Sergeant Bob Weaver in an email to The Chronicle. “The sea lion was approximately 5.5 river miles up the Garrard Creek Drainage from the Chehalis River. The creek was about 250 yards away (from where the sea lion was found) but we could not ascertain exactly where the sea lion hauled out, so I cannot advise of how far it traveled on dry land.”
After receiving the report of the wayward sea lion on the afternoon of April 15, Weaver, with the help of WDFW Police Officer Lance Martin and WDFW Marine Mammal Research Biologist Dyanna Lambourn, was able to corral the sea lion so that it could be relocated back to its natural saltwater range.
Lambourn has a veterinary technician degree and regularly responds to calls of marooned marine mammals. She said she has a lot of experience working with sea lions that have traveled far up into river systems, including the horde of pinnipeds that regularly congregate at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in order to gorge on returning salmonids, so the call was not a complete shock to her system.
“What was significant though was that he went 5 miles up a tributary creek off of the river,” said Lambourn.
Nobody knows for sure exactly how long the sea lion was hanging around the Oakville farm, but neighbors noted that they had seen a sea lion in their pasture about three weeks prior. Those folks understandably had a hard time believing that they’d actually seen a sea lion, so they didn’t call it in, and eventually they lost track of the mysterious presence in the pasture.
“It’s entirely possible that he was up that creek for three weeks,” said Lambourn. “In his condition I would imagine that it was probably the same sea lion.”
When captured, the sea lion weighed approximately 350 pounds. According to Lambourn, though, it should weigh closer to 600 pounds at this time of year, “because they’re bulking up to return south to hold territory.”
Lambourn added that there are a number of diseases that can afflict sea lions, including neurological disorders that can lead them astray.
“He was definitely thin, but there was no obvious sign of injuries,” said Lambourn, who added, “Other than being thin I didn’t see any signs of either neurological symptoms or the other diseases that they can get.”
When the sea lion proved that he could get up and move on his own, “The decision was made that it was best to just let him go and be on his own and see where we track him,” Lambourn said.
The sea lion was not released to greener pastures, nor to the salted waters around Grays Harbor from which he made his roundabout way to Oakville and beyond. Instead, the peregrinating pinniped was trucked north and plopped into Puget Sound.
Lambourn said that moving a sea lion from one watershed to another is not a concern as it would be with more finicky harbor seals.
“California sea lions migrate and can be found all the way up to Alaska,” explained Lambourn. “He’s a somewhat older animal. He’s been around the block a few times so he’s not out of his home range.”
Lambourn added that sea lions are so mobile that they can be found in Puget Sound one day and then seen making their way up the Columbia River gauntlet just a day or two later. If the adventurous sea lion from the farm does make another appearance in the next few weeks, officials will be able to identify him by a temporary marking affixed to the marine mammal during the relocation effort.
“We have had sea lions go into cow fields, into cranberry bogs and places where they shouldn’t be, and it is always a challenge to try to make sure that you’re doing the best thing for them,” said Lambourn. “It can be qutie difficult to remove a sea lion from a pasture or bog.”
Luckily for the WDFW sea lion wranglers, California sea lions are easier to shepherd than their counterpart, the Steller sea lion.
“This one was a fairly easy pick up,” said Lambourn. “California sea lions are pretty nice because they actually herd like cows. The farmer said, ‘Well that wasn’t so bad.’ It’s just like cows once you get them going.”
Lambourn added that, “The properties owners were thrilled to get him off of their property.”
In the event that a sea lion shows up on your property, Lambourn says that the first thing to do is to call the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network at 1 (866) 767-6114. The next thing to do is stand back and wait.
“Do not feed. Stay back. Let it be,” said Lambourn. “And then hopefully they’ll get the appropriate advice from the people who are going to be responding to the animal.”
Lambourn added that, “People always think they’re in trouble because they’re out of water, but you know seals and sea lions spend half of their life out of water … Usually when they haul out on land there’s a reason they are there.”
In the event of a wayward marine animal winding up on the freeway or some other dangerous situation requiring immediate emergency assistance, “It’s always best to go through 911,” noted Lambourn.
As for the ungulate cows that were approached by the sea lion, Lambourn said they didn’t quite know what to make of their ungainly visitor.
“The cows were pretty curious on the other side of the fence,” noted Lambourn. “They’d never seen one before.”
Additional information on sea lions and seals can be found on the WDFW website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/sealions/.
