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<h2><font size=5 color="#4a4a4a" face=Georgia><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>A
rare sight in the channel: Steller sea lion <o:p></o:p></span></font></h2>
<p class=byline><font size=1 color="#565656" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>Peter Howorth <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-element:frame'><font
size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:
Verdana;color:#464646'><img width=250 height=167 id="_x0000_i1026"
src="cid:image002.jpg@01C8C96B.D8623EA0" class=box align=center border=0><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>A Steller sea lion lounges in the sun
atop a buoy floating off <st2:place w:st="on"><st2:PlaceName w:st="on">Santa
Barbara</st2:PlaceName> <st2:PlaceType w:st="on">Harbor</st2:PlaceType></st2:place>.<br>
<br>
<em><i><font face=Verdana><span style='font-family:Verdana'>.</span></font></i></em>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:
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<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>June 8, 2008 7:42 AM<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st2:place w:st="on"><st2:PlaceName w:st="on"><font size=1 color="#464646"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Santa
Barbara</span></font></st2:PlaceName><font size=1 color="#464646"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'> <st2:PlaceType
w:st="on">Harbor</st2:PlaceType></span></font></st2:place><font size=1
color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Verdana;
color:#464646'> has had a rare guest over the past few days: a Steller sea
lion. This is only the third time a Steller sea lion has been seen in the Santa
Barbara Channel since the 1982-1983 El Ni0x96o event. At that time, two small
rookeries existed at <st2:place w:st="on"><st1:Sn w:st="on">San</st1:Sn> <st1:middlename
w:st="on">Miguel</st1:middlename> <st1:Sn w:st="on">Island</st1:Sn></st2:place>.
Historically, Steller sea lions once had a rookery at <st2:place w:st="on"><st1:Sn
w:st="on">San</st1:Sn> <st1:middlename w:st="on">Nicolas</st1:middlename> <st1:Sn
w:st="on">Island</st1:Sn></st2:place> also, marking the southern range limit
for this species.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Why this species disappeared from <st2:place
w:st="on">Southern California</st2:place> is unknown. It was always living on
the edge here, in water that was warmer than the rest of its range. It may be
that the 1982-1983 El Ni0x96o event tipped the balance, with the water becoming
just too warm. The same event may also have resulted in a redistribution of
prey species to colder waters farther north.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Steller sea lions range from <st2:country-region
w:st="on">Japan</st2:country-region> and <st2:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st2:country-region>
across the Aleutians to <st2:State w:st="on">Alaska</st2:State>, then down the
west coast of North America to central <st2:State w:st="on"><st2:place w:st="on">California</st2:place></st2:State>.
Their southernmost breeding colony is now on A0x96o Nuevo Island, north of <st2:place
w:st="on"><st2:City w:st="on">Santa Cruz</st2:City>, <st2:State w:st="on">California</st2:State></st2:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Throughout their range, Steller sea lion
stocks plummeted in the 1980s and 1990s. Some researchers believe that
overfishing of key prey was responsible. According to the National Marine
Fisheries Service, which has jurisdiction over this species, other problems
included accidental take from fisheries throughout the range, entanglement in
synthetic debris, illegal shootings, contaminants, and disease.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>To better manage this species, NMFS divided
the Steller sea lion population into two stocks. The western <st2:country-region
w:st="on">U.S.</st2:country-region> stock, which is federally listed as
endangered, ranges from southern <st2:State w:st="on">Alaska</st2:State> across
the <st2:place w:st="on">Aleutians</st2:place>. This stock has declined
dramatically over the years.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>The eastern <st2:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st2:country-region>
stock, considered threatened, ranges from southern <st2:State w:st="on">Alaska</st2:State>
to <st2:State w:st="on"><st2:place w:st="on">California</st2:place></st2:State>.
Although the eastern stock has shown some increase in population over the past
few years in <st2:State w:st="on">Alaska</st2:State> and <st2:State w:st="on">British
Columbia</st2:State>, numbers have been declining in central <st2:State w:st="on"><st2:place
w:st="on">California</st2:place></st2:State>. In northern <st2:State w:st="on">California</st2:State>
and <st2:State w:st="on"><st2:place w:st="on">Oregon</st2:place></st2:State>,
stocks have been relatively stable since the 1980s. The overall trend for this
stock appears to be for a slow decline in the south and a moderate increase in
the north of the range.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Steller sea lions got their name from their
discoverer, a German surgeon and naturalist aboard the Russian ship Vitus
Bering. Steller had plenty of time to describe the new species: in 1742, he was
shipwrecked on <st2:place w:st="on"><st2:PlaceName w:st="on">Bering</st2:PlaceName>
<st2:PlaceType w:st="on">Island</st2:PlaceType></st2:place>, in the far north.
With only sea lions and sailors for company, Steller dutifully recorded his
observations until the crew was rescued.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Throughout their range, Steller sea lions
begin having their pups and breeding from late May through early July. At
birth, the pups weigh 35 to 50 pounds, more than double that of their southern
kin, the <st2:State w:st="on"><st2:place w:st="on">California</st2:place></st2:State>
sea lions. The pups nurse for a year or more, although they also catch their
own meals after several months of age. The adult diet consists of large
schooling fish, including pollack, often called black cod in the markets. They
also eat squid and octopi.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Adult males can be huge; a really large
specimen can weigh nearly 2,500 pounds. By comparison, the young male at <st2:City
w:st="on"><st2:place w:st="on">Santa Barbara</st2:place></st2:City> weighs
about 750 pounds. Females are much smaller, with the largest ones weighing in
at under 800 pounds.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Since 1983, Steller sea lions all but
disappeared locally. I observed one adult female in 1989 off Refugio. Sharon
Melin, a researcher with NMFS observed a juvenile male at <st2:place w:st="on"><st1:Sn
w:st="on">San</st1:Sn> <st1:middlename w:st="on">Miguel</st1:middlename> <st1:Sn
w:st="on">Island</st1:Sn></st2:place> a few years ago. The individual hanging
out near our harbor was the third seen in this region since the 1982-1983 El
Ni0x96o, according to the NMFS.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><em><i><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
8.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Peter Howorth is director of the Santa
Barbara Marine Mammal Center</span></font></i></em><font size=1 color="#464646"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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