20 sea lions shot to death along Washington, Oregon coasts

The bodies of about 20 sea lions have been discovered along the coasts of Oregon and Washington over the last two months, most of them shot to death. Who did it? No one knows, but there are a few guesses as to why—the playful but voracious creatures have long been blamed by fishermen and others for lunching on prized stocks of salmon and sturgeon, which swim along the Pacific Coast and up the Columbia River. The sea lions have grown increasingly bold about fishing near Bonneville Dam, where large numbers of salmon protected under the federal Endangered Species Act make their way toward the sea. The salmon plunder was so worrisome that the National Marine Fisheries Service has sought in recent years to lethally remove some of the biggest problem predators, in addition to hazing and trapping the animals...more