DFO’s Regional Marine Mammal Coordinator is asking people to make sure you give marine mammals a wide berth.
A video went viral last weekend of a girl being pulled from a dock by a sea lion.
Fish cleaning stations in Powell River have also been shut down to remove a food source for an aggressive male sea lion in North Boat Harbour.
Paul Cottrell says along with giving make sure you don’t feed them. “It’s the same as where you get bears which get habituated to people and food and sometimes it becomes so dangerous that the animal has to be euthanized.”
Cottrell says they haven’t had a situation that has escalated to that point with sea lions yet, “But we’re having to monitor a couple situations where, if it gets to a situation where public safety is at risk there’s going to be some tough decisions and we’re hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
If you see someone feeding marine mammals or a mammal in distress, call the marine mammal incident hotline: 1-800-465-4336
