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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Woodyg3" data-source="post: 438714" data-attributes="member: 24569">I have a degree in environmental conservation, and so I have a good handle on the reasons for wanting to manage the sea lions. I also understand that the government's main interest in protecting salmon is economic, not environmental. Overfishing by man has caused this problem, along with the change in river ecosystems due to dams and other man-made changes. We'll never see a complete prohibition of salmon fishing because of all sorts of political reasons, the most important being money. Anyway, it sure would have been nice to photograph the sea lion without the disfigurement given to him by Oregon Fish and Game. Regardless of all the ins and outs of this issue, I just think it's fundamentally wrong to do that to a wild animal. On a side note, as I was photographing this little guy, a couple of young men came and looked at the sea lion and asked if he was my pet. I told them no, this was a wild sea lion. They were amazed. Then, when a local advised some other tourists who were trying to get a picture of themselves by the sea lion not to get to close, that they might bite, people were astonished that such a cute animal might actually bite. I guess they think all animals are Disney characters or something. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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