SEA LION LOTHARIO DUE BACK.Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer On the rocky shores of the Channel Islands, rangers await the return of a blubbery blub·ber 1 v. blub·bered, blub·ber·ing, blub·bers v.intr. To sob noisily. See Synonyms at cry. v.tr. 1. To utter while crying and sobbing. 2. killer. He's smothered dozens of California sea lions around San Miguel Island San Miguel Island is the westernmost of California's Channel Islands and the sixth-largest of the eight at 9,325 acres (37.74 km²), including offshore islands and rocks. Prince Island, 700 m off the northeastern coast, measures 35 acres in area. year after year. And now he is due back. The suspect in question is a lusty lust·y adj. lust·i·er, lust·i·est 1. Full of vigor or vitality; robust. 2. Powerful; strong: a lusty cry. 3. Lustful. 4. Merry; joyous. freak of nature, a hybrid sea lion weighing up to 1,600 pounds who crushes his mates while trying to breed. Wildlife officials blame him for suffocating suf·fo·cate v. suf·fo·cat·ed, suf·fo·cat·ing, suf·fo·cates v.tr. 1. To kill or destroy by preventing access of air or oxygen. 2. To impair the respiration of; asphyxiate. 3. up to 40 female sea lions over the past five years. ``I assume all is quiet out there or else I would know,'' said Jack Fitzgerald, chief park ranger at Channel Islands National Park Channel Islands National Park: see Santa Barbara Islands; National Parks and Monuments (table). . ``At this point, I would say he has not returned.'' As sea lions return to the Channel Islands, rangers are keeping an eye out for the bull, whose Goliath proportions and lady-killing tendencies make him the pinniped pinniped: see seal. pinniped Any member of the three existing families of aquatic, fin-footed mammals that constitute the suborder Pinnipedia (order Carnivora; see carnivore). equivalent of King Henry VIII. Wildlife officials originally planned to shoot the sea lion if he returned this year and study the unusual hybrid for science. But now it appears the lusty bull may have free reign again because it is too late to get a permit this season, said Robert DeLong, a biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine . ``I didn't get my permit application in on time,'' said DeLong. Between 30 and 40 carcasses of female California sea lions were found dead on the rocks around San Miguel Island in the Santa Barbara Channel The Santa Barbara Channel is that part of the Pacific Ocean which separates the mainland of California from the northern Channel Islands. It is generally south of the city of Santa Barbara, and west of the city of Ventura. over the past five years. After ruling out pollution or virus, biologists and rangers turned their suspicions on fishermen. Rangers and scientists spent $40,000 on a criminal investigation using high-tech surveillance gear and even a Coast Guard helicopter. Then one day a biologist spotted the bull sea lion mating with a female who was gasping for breath and who died within a minute. DeLong said the bull is the only known hybrid between a California sea lion and Stellar sea lion. He weighs 1,400 to 1,600 pounds - 10 times as much as the female California sea lions he is trying to mate with. DeLong said the sea lions generally return to the island around June 1. But whether the bull returns is an open question because males have a high mortality rate, in part because of their habit of fighting one another. ``The probability is quite high he will not return because he's old,'' DeLong said. ``He's experienced at least five breeding seasons as an adult and that's unusual in itself.'' |
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