PORTLAND, Ore. — An examination of the heads of six sea lions who died in traps at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River hasn’t given federal investigators reason to pursue toxicology tests to see whether the animals were poisoned, an official of the National Marine Fisheries Service said Thursday.
Beyond that, however, federal officials revealed little about the mystery surrounding the deaths of the six animals trapped in cages as part of an effort to keep them from feeding on endangered salmon.
Fisheries officials have ruled out their initial assumption the six sea lions were shot to death and say they are still puzzled about how the animals came to be trapped in the cages. The trap doors had been left open, so the sea lions would grow accustomed to them until it was time to send them to aquariums.
Specialists at a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service forensic lab in Ashland examined the sea lion heads and sent findings on to the fisheries agency, which is investigating the deaths. Their report wasn’t made public.
Spokesman Mark Oswell of NOAA Fisheries said Thursday that based on information so far “there is nothing to indicate a need to do toxicology tests,” which could determine whether poison was involved.
Tissue samples have been kept in case such tests are needed later, said Oswell, speaking from Silver Spring, Md.
The sea lions were found Sunday in two traps. Each held three animals, and the doors to both were somehow closed.
The gates of the two traps operate independently of one another, said fisheries service spokesman Brian Gorman in Seattle.
It takes a stout pull on a rope to activate a pin or latch to close the gates if they are working properly, he said Thursday.
“The conundrum for us is how they both closed,” he said, adding that investigators are ruling out nothing.
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