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Random: Sea lion hijacks boat

Laylan Connelly, staff writer — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:41:28 +0000

This is a pretty wacky story coming from the Orange County Register’s cop reporter Sal Hernandez.

First, there were all the crazy stories about the sea lions learning how to jump on boats (eventually sinking a bunch of them). Now apparently, they’ve learned how to drive the vessels!

Here’s what Hernandez wrote about the event:

The three deputies had just left a Newport Harbor dock after responding to calls of juveniles smoking pot and a young sea lion trying to bite people. They tied up the boat while they checked the dock. The sea lion, which was snapping at people, refused to stay in the water when the deputies tried to shoo it away.

Eventually, the deputies decided to put the sea lion into the fire boat and take it out to sea, where they would try to set it free.

While deputies maneuvered the boat at the main controls, the sea lion took a seat at the foul-weather station, a secondary control station for the boat.

“It ran into the driver’s seat, flapped its flipper, turned the lights on and honked the horn,” Slikker said.

At one point, the sea lion was able to get the throttle to go full speed — in reverse.

Read the full story here, and you gotta check out this video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Sea lions sink boat in Newport Harbor

Laylan Connelly, staff writer — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:55:57 +0000

Well, the good news is that the owner of a trimaran that was attracting sea lions put up netting so they would stay off his boat.

The bad news is - the found another one. And sunk it.

I went down to the harbor today after getting word from bayfront resident Larry Buckelew that two sea lions had gotten on top of a small boat, and it took in so much water with the weight of the burly beasts that it ended up at the bottom of the harbor.

That sucks. (read the full story here)

There was a ton of debate on whether the sea lions should be left alone, seeing as they were there first. Others agreed with Buckelew and other irked bayfront residents who said the city has to do something better to take control of this issue.

What do you think? Add a comment below or take this poll:

What do you think about the sea lion invasion?

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Sea lions invade Newport boat. Poll: Do they have a right to be there?

Laylan Connelly, staff writer — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:34:58 +0000

A group of sea lions have found a new home in the Newport Harbor, basking for weeks on top of a catamaran and irking bay front residents who have to listen to them bark all night.

The city has been grappling with the sea lion issue since 2005, when they sank a 50-foot boat. The sea lions have some how learned how to jump onto boats. Read more of the story here.

The recent case has kept residents up throughout the night, with little they can do about the constant noise issue.

What do you think about the sea lion invasion?

Post from: OC Beach Blog

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