Herschel the sea lion was the moniker given to a series of male California sea lions in Seattle, Washington, United States. Herschel took up seasonal residence in the early to mid-1980s on the saltwater side of Seattle's Salmon Bay at the Ballard Locks where salmon runs were funneled into the fish ladder. Due to the volume of fish the groups would consume, attempts at deterring or removing Herschel and other young males became a yearly process that gained national media attention.
One story for the origin of the epithet "Herschel" is that when the first sea lion was spotted near the Ballard Locks, a fisherman called out "Oh hey, that looks like old Herschel that I used to work with down at the docks". [1]
The original Herschel the sea lion was estimated to weigh between 300–400 kg (660–880 lb) and was one of the largest in his group of young males. [1] It is thought that the original returned for several years in the early 1980s only, [2] and from the mid-1980s through early 1990s, the name was given to the largest male of the wintering group. [1] The sea lions attracted local and national fame due to the controversy around the steelhead run impacts. The Associated Press reported a condo near the Ballard Locks displaying a sign reading "Herschels Sushi Bar", while another sign was reported to "keep score" between the game agency and Herschel. [3]
The Lake Washington watershed steelhead runs were placed in a vulnerable position when the locks were completed, as fish in each run were bottlenecked by the fish ladder. Additionally, the fish would spend several days resting in the estuarine area directly below the locks while undergoing the metabolic changes needed for the shift from salt to fresh water. [4] Herschel became a focus of blame for the rapidly dwindling steelhead runs, which in 1984, numbered only 464, down from over 2500 in 1983. [5] The cause for steelhead decline was not universally blamed on Herschel, however, with a Greenpeace spokesperson in 1985 questioning the impact of one to four sea lions. They asserted the detrimental effects of human impact such as oil, sewage, chemical runoff, or logging, and overfishing on the runs were being ignored. [6]
Serious efforts to deter Herschel and other sea lions from the Ballard Locks fish ladder area were first attempted during the winter of 1986, with game agents monitoring the area daily from January through March. During the week of January 8, 1986, game agents attempted a harassment program using waterproofed firecrackers, nicknamed "seal bombs", in an effort to frighten away Herschel and other sea lions who had returned that winter to feed on the trout run. [3]
By December 1985, Greenpeace had weighed in on the controversy, stating opposition to proposals of relocating Herschel. [6]
A bill to escalate the severity of actions allowed for use by the game agents was led by Jack Metcalf, then head of the Senate Natural Resources and Environmental committee. On March 2, 1989, the Washington Senate majority voted to pass legislation allowing for the killing of seals and sea lions threatening fish runs by a margin of 34 to 12. In the lead-up to the Senate vote, some proponents of the bill wore buttons with the slogan "Take a bite out of Herschel". From there, it was passed to the Washington House of Representatives. [7] Senate opponents of the bill argued passing the bill would put state game agents at odds with the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act at the time, which required an in-depth study of the populations and impacts. [7]
By August 1994, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials were looking at two options as sea lion deterrents, though it is likely that by the 1990s, the original Herschel had died, with the name then being used for any sea lion seen in the Ballard Locks area. With the re-authorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act earlier in 1994, a provision was added called the "nuisance clause" which specifically called out the sea lions of the Ballard Locks. Under the clause as then written, Fish & Wildlife officials had the option of taking lethal steps against problem individual animals. [4] An application was granted for lethal measures in fall 1994, with five identified sea lions specifically called out as "predatory". [8] The specific authorization was never invoked for sea lions in the Ballard Locks area, due to pressure from conservation groups and intervention by then Vice President Al Gore. [1]
The steelhead runs by the mid-1990s had dwindled to fewer than 200 individuals a year and, with the loss of large food volumes at the Ballard Locks, the overwintering sea lion population dropped to a few solitary individuals. The three largest of the remaining sea lions, "Bob", "Big Frank", and "Hondo", were trapped and shipped via FedEx to Sea World Orlando, where they lived out their lives with a harem of females. [1] Increased understanding of male sea lion biology and morphology is credited to the decade and a half spent trying to manage and mitigate the impact of the "Herschel" and the other males that overwintered in the locks. Pre-1980 adult size estimates for males topped out at 800 lb (360 kg), while the current understanding is of males regularly exceeding 1,000 lb (450 kg) and the largest on record topping 1,320 lb (600 kg). [1]
Trout is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera Oncorhynchus, Salmo and Salvelinus, all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the family Salmonidae. The word trout is also used for some similar-shaped but non-salmonid fish, such as the spotted seatrout/speckled trout.
The California sea lion is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of California. California sea lions are sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females, and have a thicker neck, and a protruding sagittal crest. They mainly haul out on sandy or rocky beaches, but they also frequent manmade environments such as marinas and wharves. California sea lions feed on a number of species of fish and squid, and are preyed on by orcas and great white sharks.
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. The sea lions have six extant and one extinct species in five genera. Their range extends from the subarctic to tropical waters of the global ocean in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, with the notable exception of the northern Atlantic Ocean. They have an average lifespan of 20–30 years. A male California sea lion weighs on average about 300 kg (660 lb) and is about 2.4 m (8 ft) long, while the female sea lion weighs 100 kg (220 lb) and is 1.8 m (6 ft) long. The largest sea lions are Steller's sea lions, which can weigh 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) and grow to a length of 3.0 m (10 ft). Sea lions consume large quantities of food at a time and are known to eat about 5–8% of their body weight at a single feeding. Sea lions can move around 16 knots in water and at their fastest they can reach a speed of about 30 knots. Three species, the Australian sea lion, the Galápagos sea lion and the New Zealand sea lion, are listed as endangered.
The Steller sea lion, also known as Steller's sea lion or the northern sea lion, is a large, near-threatened species of sea lion, predominantly found in the coastal marine habitats of the northeast Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Northwest regions of North America, from north-central California to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia to Alaska. Its range continues across the Northern Pacific and the Aleutian Islands, all the way to Kamchatka, Magadan Oblast, and the Sea of Okhotsk, south to Honshu's northern coastline. It is the sole member of the genus Eumetopias, and the largest of the so-called eared seals (Otariidae). Among pinnipeds, only the walrus and the two species of elephant seal are bigger. The species is named for the naturalist and explorer Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described them in 1741. Steller sea lions have attracted considerable attention in recent decades, both from scientists and the general public, due to significant declines in their numbers over an extensive portion of their northern range, notably in Alaska.
The bearded seal, also called the square flipper seal, is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. It gets its generic name from two Greek words that refer to its heavy jaw. The other part of its Linnaean name means bearded and refers to its most characteristic feature, the conspicuous and very abundant whiskers. When dry, these whiskers curl very elegantly, giving the bearded seal a "raffish" look.
Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located 40 miles (64 km) east of Portland, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge. The primary functions of Bonneville Lock and Dam are electrical power generation and river navigation. The dam was built and is managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. At the time of its construction in the 1930s it was the largest water impoundment project of its type in the nation, able to withstand flooding on an unprecedented scale. Electrical power generated at Bonneville is distributed by the Bonneville Power Administration. Bonneville Dam is named for Army Capt. Benjamin Bonneville, an early explorer credited with charting much of the Oregon Trail. The Bonneville Dam Historic District was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1987.
The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or Ballard Locks, is a complex of locks at the west end of Salmon Bay in Seattle, Washington's Lake Washington Ship Canal, between the neighborhoods of Ballard to the north and Magnolia to the south.
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into extreme southeastern Washington. The range has an area of about 15,000 square miles (39,000 km2), stretching east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon, to the Snake River along the Oregon–Idaho border.
The northern fur seal is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily (Arctocephalinae) and the only living species in the genus Callorhinus. A single fossil species, Callorhinus gilmorei, is known from the Pliocene of Japan and western North America.
The brown fur seal, also known as the Cape fur seal, and Afro-Australian fur seal, is a species of fur seal.
The rainbow trout is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) or Columbia River redband trout. Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and North America. Like other sea-run (anadromous) trout and salmon, steelhead spawn in freshwater, smolts migrate to the ocean to forage for several years and adults return to their natal streams to spawn. Steelhead are iteroparous, although their survival rate is approximately only 10–20%.
The chum salmon, also known as dog salmon or keta salmon, is a species of anadromous salmonid fish from the genus Oncorhynchus native to the coastal rivers of the North Pacific and the Beringian Arctic, and is often marketed under the trade name silverbrite salmon in North America. The English name "chum salmon" comes from the Chinook Jargon term tsəm, meaning "spotted" or "marked"; while keta in the scientific name comes from Russian, which in turn comes from the Evenki language of Eastern Siberia. The term 'Dog Salmon' is most commonly used in Alaska and refers to the Salmon whose flesh Alaskans use to feed their dogs.
The Kodiak bear, also known as the Kodiak brown bear and sometimes the Alaskan brown bear, inhabits the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in southwest Alaska. It is one of the largest recognized subspecies or population of the brown bear, and one of the two largest bears alive today, the other being the polar bear. They are also considered by some to be a population of grizzly bears.
The Chinook salmon is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, Quinnat salmon, Tsumen, spring salmon, chrome hog, Blackmouth, and Tyee salmon. The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name chavycha (чавыча).
The spotted seal, also known as the larga seal or largha seal, is a member of the family Phocidae, and is considered a "true seal". It inhabits ice floes and waters of the north Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. It is primarily found along the continental shelf of the Beaufort, Chukchi, Bering and Okhotsk Seas and south to the northern Yellow Sea and it migrates south as far as northern Huanghai and the western Sea of Japan. It is also found in Alaska from the southeastern Bristol Bay to Demarcation Point during the ice-free seasons of summer and autumn when spotted seals mate and have pups. Smaller numbers are found in the Beaufort Sea. It is sometimes mistaken for the harbor seal to which it is closely related and spotted seals and harbor seals often mingle together in areas where their habitats overlap.
Alameda Creek is a large perennial stream in the San Francisco Bay Area. The creek runs for 45 miles (72 km) from a lake northeast of Packard Ridge to the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay by way of Niles Canyon and a flood control channel. Along its course, Alameda Creek provides wildlife habitat, water supply, a conduit for flood waters, opportunities for recreation, and a host of aesthetic and environmental values. The creek and three major reservoirs in the watershed are used as water supply by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Alameda County Water District and Zone 7 Water Agency. Within the watershed can be found some of the highest peaks and tallest waterfall in the East Bay, over a dozen regional parks, and notable natural landmarks such as the cascades at Little Yosemite and the wildflower-strewn grasslands and oak savannahs of the Sunol Regional Wilderness.
The Northern pikeminnow, Columbia River dace or colloquially Squawfish is a large member of the minnow family, Leuciscidae. This predatory freshwater fish is native to northwestern North America, ranging from the Nass River basin to the Columbia River basin. A good deal of concern has been expressed regarding the impact northern pikeminnow populations may have on salmon in Columbia and Snake River impoundments.
The wildlife of Alaska is both diverse and abundant. The Alaskan Peninsula provides an important habitat for fish, mammals, reptiles, and birds. At the top of the food chain are the bears. Alaska contains about 70% of the total North American brown bear population and the majority of the grizzly bears, as well as black bears and Kodiak bears. In winter, polar bears can be found in the Kuskokwim Delta, St. Matthew Island, and at the southernmost portion of St. Lawrence Island. Other major mammals include moose and caribou, bison, wolves and wolverines, foxes, otters and beavers. Fish species are extensive, including: salmon, graylings, char, rainbow and lake trout, northern pike, halibut, pollock, and burbot. The bird population consists of hundreds of species, including: bald eagles, owls, falcons, ravens, ducks, geese, swans, and the passerines. Sea lions, seals, sea otters, and migratory whales are often found close to shore and in offshore waters. The Alaskan waters are home to two species of turtles, the leatherback sea turtle and the green sea turtle. Alaska has two species of frogs, the Columbia spotted frog and wood frog, plus two introduced species, the Pacific tree frog and the red-legged frog. The only species of toad in Alaska is the western toad. There are over 3,000 recorded species of marine macroinvertebrates inhabiting the marine waters, the most common being the various species of shrimp, crab, lobster, and sponge.
The Nimbus Fish Hatchery is located in eastern Sacramento County, built on the downstream side of the Nimbus Dam. It is one of the 21 fish hatcheries the California Department of Fish and Wildlife oversees. Chinook salmon and steelhead are raised, and about 4 million Chinook salmon and 430,000 steelheads released each year.