THE DALLES, Ore. — A sea lion named “Ray” has found a home at The Dalles Marina.
The Dalles Chronicle reported that the California sea lion was an estimated 300 pounds when he arrived at the marina two years ago. He is now a dock-damaging 1,200 pounds after consuming a rich buffet of salmon caught in fishing nets.
Kathy Norton, who oversees the marina, said fishermen will haul in salmon that have bites taken out of them. Other sea lions have been spotted between The Dalles and Bonneville dams, she says, but for some reason they don’t intrude on Ray’s territory at the marina.
When the sea lion first appeared, Norton was told the animal would soon move back downriver and migrate to customary breeding grounds. But that didn’t happen and Ray has been in the gorge for two years.
Efforts to trap and relocate the sea lion have failed.
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