-coho-salmon-dying-near-release-point-in-port-moody-ubc-study

this is almost laughable and sad at the same time. the kayakers and greenies all love the seals, to the point of asking if the log booms can become a permanent feature by the boat launch. home to approximately 50-80 seals at any given time and or timed with hatchery timing whether it be mature returns or smolt releases. the pinniped problem is so obvious here. start a sterilization program now or just keep fooling donators and volunteers into doing something over and over with the same result. we all know the word for that.
 
Dr Hinch is a great researcher - very thorough. I think the main hypothesis they are testing is will different release locations help avoid predator traps. There's plenty of research demonstrating that harbour seals quickly learn how to adapt their prey acquisition strategy to target the best protein return for energy expended. One of UBC's MA students completed a study off Qualicum noting that despite hatchery releases of small sized Chinook at vastly larger out migrating numbers than Coho (which are larger smolts), that seals let Chinook pass through largely untouched, yet targeted the larger coho smolts. Perhaps the reason why Ocean Type Chinook that migrate out as very small smolts are doing considerable. better than their Stream Type cousins who are roughly 3 times larger that Ocean Type when they out migrate. Big Smartie vs small Smartie applies in nature...and grand kids.

 
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