ASTORIA, Ore. - The Port of Astoria is trying a new approach to keep sea lions off its docks: electrified mats.
As first reported by The Daily Astorian, the port tested the new mats, which cost about $50 to $90 per square foot, with limited success last week.
Previously, the port used colorful surveying tape and foot traffic to keeping sea lions off the docks of the East Mooring Basin.
Officials say the plastic mats with charged lines create a low-voltage pulse that irritates, rather than hurts, the sea lions.
Along the docks Monday, it was fin-to-nose, as sea lions crowded onto every inch. They've followed a huge run of smelt and chinook salmon near the mouth of the Columbia River.
The numbers, more than two thousand, are new. The problem is not new.
A Vancouver, Wash. company called Smith-Root has used the mats to keep the animals off an oil drilling rig near the coast of California.
The mat carries cables that run parallel with a positive and negative current. They are roughly four inches apart. When a wet flipper or sea lion lands on both and completes the circuit, a small jolt of electricity is sent, delivering a shock.
"That pulse is designed as an irritating stimulus," said Gary Bock, a spokesman for the company.
Bock said the recent tests in Astoria were not extremely successful because the mat did not deliver shocks when a dry sea lion crossed it. He also thought the lack of salt in the water affected the conductivity of the charge.
He said those issues can be worked out.
But it's the price that worries the port the most. Covering all the docks would likely cost $250,000, according to Mike Weston, who is in charge of the port's business operations.
The port cannot afford that.
"No. not on our own," said Weston. "We would need help if we wanted to employ something to that effect."
The port has also considered putting up chain link fences around the docks but worry the animals would find a way in and then knock down the fencing.
The humans have not given up.
But for now, the sea lions at the East Mooring Basin are winning.
"Ha, ha. So far, they're winning yes," said Weston.
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KGW reporter Pat Dooris contributed to this report.
