May 15, 2011 – For the crime of snacking on endangered salmon, dozens of sea lions have been sentenced to die.
On Friday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it had authorized state officials in Oregon and Washington to “lethally remove” a population of sea lions which for years have congregated just below the Bonneville Dam, about 150 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and gorged on salmon migrating upriver to spawn.
The states will be allowed to kill up to 85 sea lions per year, but only those that are known to be eating salmon.
Read the complete story from The New York Times.