PORTLAND, Ore. -- Sea lions have returned to the Columbia River.
An inter-tribal hazing boat counted between 80 and 90 sea lions earlier this week during a survey from Bonneville Dam to the mouth of the river.
The California and Steller sea lions follow the spring Chinook Salmon run all the way up to the dam.
It's the job of the hazing boat crew to spot and push as many animals back down river as possible. They're trying to protect the salmon.
One of their best tools fires out of a 12-gauge shotgun.
"What we use is called a cracker shell," said boat captain Bobby Begay.
"It's a 12-gauge shotgun, it's a pyrotechnic, it shoots out of the shotgun, launches 20, 30 yards and explodes on the surface of the water," he said.
State wildlife managers capture and brand some of the sea lions near the dam. Repeat offenders are killed.
But on the water, the only weapon the inter-tribal crew can use is sound. They're not allowed to hit the sea lions with their blasts.
Besides the cracker shell, the captain has a narrow explosive charge that he says it is a bit more powerful than an M80.
Its water proof. It's called a seal bomb.
"I got a seal bomb which we are gonna drop in the water and it's gonna explode about 8 feet under water," Begay said.
He lit the fuse and dropped it up river. The current carried the charge under the boat and it exploded with a sharp and powerful bang.
The captain hoped the aluminum boat helped magnify the sound and scare the sea lions away.
He said some times it worked for an hour, sometimes a half day.
But most times, he said, the sea lions return.
The hazing will continue until the salmon run is over and the sea lions swim the 145 miles back to the mouth of the Columbia and the Pacific Ocean.
