Sea lions died of overheating

10:40 AM, May 15, 2008

Six protected sea lions found dead in government traps this month died of overheating, not gunshots, as had been initially suspected, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service in Portland.

Investigators had suspected foul play after finding sea lions covered in blood and puncture wounds inside a trap at a dam between Washington and Oregon. But a review found that the deaths were consistent with heat exhaustion.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Don Ryan/AP

Posted by Francisco Vara-Orta on May 15, 2008 in Sea Lions | Permalink

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Actually, the "official" story has changed so many times, and gotten so progressively unbelievable that I sense a cover-up. I live below the dam, and am very concerned. They said the dam was a "potential terrorist target," and gave them all kinds of money after 9/11 to supposedly "protect the homeland." And this is the best they can do? They tell us they don't even have surveillance footage of the area in front of the dam? What?? (First, they said they had footage, but couldn't look at it because supposedly, no one had the security clearance to do so.)

Then, for 2 days after the carcasses were examined, they told us that it was gunshots, that there were bullet wounds. Now, they're trying to tell us, wait, no, dam security wasn't breached. They just died of heat stroke?? In weather that wasn't even 60 degrees???

Come on. Lies and cover-ups.

I say leave the sea lions along, and start protecting my security a little better than that. For crying out loud.

Posted by: Ella James | May 17, 2008 at 04:23 PM

Our Bloggers

Tony Barboza, a Colorado native who moved to Southern California as a college student, is a reporter for The Times' Orange County edition, where he covers the beaches and the city of Irvine. A lifelong animal lover, he lives with his 2-year-old cats Mario and Vincent.

Carla Hall, a general assignment reporter, has covered animals and their people across the state of California (and occasionally beyond). She chronicled the Oakland Zoo's attempts to hand-raise a baby African elephant and followed the Los Angeles Zoo's L.A.-born gorilla Caesar on his trek to a new home at Zoo Atlanta several years ago. Preferring to get up close and personal with her subjects, she once fed corn cobs to the L.A. Zoo's now-deceased elephant Gita (no connection between her demise and the feeding) and spent hours interviewing pit bulls at the Laurel Canyon Dog Park. Currently animal-less, Carla still insists on plying people with anecdotes about her cat Arnold, who died 10 years ago.

Francisco Vara-Orta has been a staff writer at The Times since 2006, writing about birth control for squirrels in Santa Monica and pigeons in Hollywood, the hidden culture of TV pet adoptions and puppy theft. Although he grew up with pet dogs, he realized the sad realities of neglected animals after spending a summer in high school volunteering at a local shelter. Francisco, an L.A. transplant, graduated from St. Mary's University in his hometown of San Antonio, where his dog Diego now keeps his mother company.

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