2/20/2004: Sea lion takes over cop car
 

http://cellar.org/2004/sealioncopcar.jpg

If there are locals reading, does it seem like the sea lions on the California coast are getting more and more aggressive? This one looks mighty pissed, but perhaps he was just slammed across the trunk of that car by the man. The people carrying boards are from the Marine Mammal Center, where they eventually took this lad to serve his time in the drunk tank and settle down.

The boards themselves are called "herding boards" and I'm sure it was important to give a technical term to a piece of plywood with a handle.

I saw this somewhere else. According to the article I read the cop pulled over to deal with the sea-lion but had the tables turned on him when it climbed onto his cruiser. ( I'm guessing the road surface may have been uncomfortably warm).
That's not just any old handled plywood. That there's marine ply.

Wouldn't it have just been easier to get going about 25 mph in reverse, and slam on the brakes? :p

"Honey, was that a flying Sea Lion I just saw?"

"It's Big, It's round, I think I'll call it the ground"........ "And the petunia just thought "Oh No, not again"

As I looked at the picture...the only thing I could think off was:

"Huh?! Those are alloys. Since when do cops get alloys on their cars? Thats odd.."

Mebbe they got a really good deal on 2002 leftover Crown Vics, as equipped ...

Might be the regular steel wheels don't last too long in the salt air.

I read that they found a bullet in this sea lion's head after they took it back to the lab. Apparantly it's not uncommon for these animals to be used for target practice. Craziness!

Lost, Shot in the head
 

The whole story is much more bizarre.

This Sea Lion turned up in the central valley farmland after swimming up some irrigation canals. This is a LONG way from the ocean.

More info here: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science...alley.seal.ap/

When they took it to the vet they discovered that it had been shot in the head some time last week, and that this may have accounted for it's disorientation.

The animal folks said that it's very hard to catch people who shoot marine animals (I guess this has happened before)

The Sea Lion is recovering well. It hadn't lost much weight before they found it.

Just imagine being able to jump onto the trunk of car. Without legs.

WTF would anybody want to shoot a sea lion? Thats fucked up.

Those who shoot marine animals should be happy that they're hard to catch...I'd feed them to the sea lions if I did catch them, bit by bit...

No joke. I can just picture Billy Bob and his cousin/wife rolling up in their Powerwagon...

Billy Bob: Hey Suze...see them ugly fat thangs over thar?

Suze: Yup.

Billy Bob: I'm gonna shoot one-a-em.

Suze: But it looks like your mama.

Billy Bob: Quit fiddlin' with the 8 track and hand me my gun, ya bitch.

Bang.

Billy Bob: Gee whiz, that sure was fun. Now let's go tip some cows.

Stupid Sea Lion, doesn't he know those Crown Vic gas tanks blow up. He could have been raining like the whale they blew up.
Probably qualify for Federal money by naming those Herding Boards.

Apparently the CHP named him Chippy, here is a link to an article featured on a local newspapers website.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...al/7924504.htm

The L.A. Times also reports that a $1,000 reward is being offered to anyone giving information leading to a conviction of the person that shot Chippy.

Frankly I think Ponch would have been a better name. Chippy just seems too sissy for a 300# animal.

The movie (and book) Jaws is based to a large part on a shark attack on the Matawan Creek in NewJersey - about where mile marker 106 of the Garden State Parkway crosses that creek. That is also a significant distance inland. I had kayaked that creek some 20 years ago. My kayak was about as long as creek was wide in most places. Little did I know of the 1916 history. If anyone had told me a 12 foot shark was hiding in those waters, well, water is way too shallow, too narrow, and far too inland for sharks. So I would have thought.

View pictures of where the attack occurred. Most of the creek is like this from where we put in on Route 34 at a dam almost to where small power boats are moored near Raritan Bay.

If a large Great White could spend days in a creek like this, then why not a smaller sea lion in the Central Valley?
Creek where attack happened
Creek at high tide. Land to left gently slopes down into creek; would be very shallow here:
Another view
Looking over boats on right of this picture, out beyond those reeds is the Raritan Bay. Shark attack would have been maybe a mile behind this picture:
Creek entrance to Raritan Bay

Map demonstrates how far inland this attack was:
Map of Attack


Story is here: MATAWAN MAN-EATER

Fascinating story, that. Did Peter Benchley cite this historical occurance as one of his inspirations for "Jaws"?

Must have been a dolphin.:)

Re: Lost, Shot in the head
 

disoriented? i don't think so. I think he was looking for the sonofabitch that shot him!...they should have just followed him, and they'd have been able to nab the culprit!

Watch me now....
 

"Get out of my dreams.....and into my car".......
I said HEY YOU......... :)
:rolleyes:

THAT'S gonna be on Lumberjims cd fo sho.

I think I see a new movie coming on

The Seal Rider.

Go Keisha.:D

Jaws is said to be based upon these 1916 shark attacks. Am not sure why that claim has been made, but I have heard that claim from multiple sources including printed sources.

Thanks TW. I freaked out my buddy last night with that story. He lives in Mt Royal, NJ. Right on a tidal creek bigger than that one.:D

from http://www.boattalk.com/sharks/bullshark.htm

"The Bull shark is found close to to shore and can live for a while in fresh water, frequenting estuaries, river and lakes. Bull Sharks have been found up to 1,750 miles up the Mississippi River in the USA and 2,500 miles up the Amazon River in Peru."

Probably originally procured for pursuit duty. The RCMP in Kamloops BC had a set of $4000 wheels and tires off an Camaro IROC pursuit stolen before they had plates on the car once.

Chasing sea lions? Do pirana fear a bull shark?

I'm not sure I'm following you. After reading it three times, I think you are trying to say "Someone stole the wheels off an unregistered cop car." Is that right?

Yep. Plates = license plates; in BC you buy insurance and registration all at the same time from a crown corporation. You need to buy plates before you can drive a new car.

The new car was delivered to the police highway patrol lockup. The theives broke into the small chain link fenced parking lot (maybe space for 30-40 cars) where the new car was parked. They took the wheels off the car left with them. The cops eventually recoved the wheels with a bunch of other stolen property in Richmond (about 330km away). As you could imagine the fence was having a bit of trouble selling the wheels. I don't think there has ever been a hotter piece of stolen property in BC.

All of which shores up the idea that police pursuit specials sometimes have fancy wheels.

UPDATE
 

the sea lion has been returned to the sea, where he belongs.

The story, from the Associated Press, is posted below.


_____________

321-Pound Sea Lion Returned to the Ocean

SAUSALITO, Calif. - A sea lion found more than 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the San Joaquin Valley last month was released back into the ocean Wednesday.

California Highway Patrol officers rescued the 321-pound male sea lion, nicknamed "CHiPpy" from a road in Merced County near Los Banos on Feb. 9.

On Wednesday, workers for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito released CHiPpy to the ocean at Drake's Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore.

After his rescue, the animal was transported to the Marine Mammal Center where he has been held until officials determined he was healthy enough to be returned to the ocean.

CHiPpy was hospitalized for a while because he was suffering from a gunshot wound. No clues yet have emerged as to how that happened.

The case has been turned over for investigation to the law enforcement arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency announced in February it would pay a $1,000 reward for information leading to a prosecution and conviction in the case.

Harming a sea lion is a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Penalties range from a civil penalty of up to $12,000 or a criminal fine of as much as $20,000, plus jail time.

___

On The Net:

Marine Mammal Center: www.marinemammalcenter.org

Hey, it's just like the Sopranos. Shoot him in the head and dump him in the ocean.:)