Steveston, BC was home to the Nautilus VII and Nautilus Explorer for almost 2 decades. We loved the place. When we first arrived in 1995, Steveston village was still a fishing port and we had to get special permission from the Harbour Authority to berth a “dive boat” among the 1000 fishing vessels. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were witnessing the very last days of the fishing industry. Corporate amalgamations orchestrated by local billionaire Jim Pattison resulted in the closure of the local canneries. Salmon and other local fisheries were on their last legs with heavy encroachment on habitat, over-fishing, etc. All the canneries ended up being torn down. While some fishermen still work 2 or 3 days a year during openings, many went on to start other businesses from whale watching to boat building. Steveston itself has gentrified into condo’s, town-houses and our building at the foot of No. 1 road has been demolished to make way for a whale watching operation.
Fast forward to last week. Sea lions are dangerous. I would much rather swim with great white sharks over a big bull stellar sea lion that might way over 2000 lbs. I love great white sharks. I have had the c**p scared out of me diving with big stellar sea lions in Alaska. I don’t like those guys!! So I find it astonishing when local tourists hand feed sea lions on the docks in Steveston. Are the tourists crazy? I guess they are the same kind of people who figure it’s ok to feed peanut butter sandwiches to black bears because they are “cute”.
The following video from last week is a good example of why you shouldn’t feed sea lions!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMDtibc13fc
And I can’t resist including article on the incident from a local newspaper. it’s a must read!!
http://www.straight.com/blogra/914461/hordes-parents-dejected-after-steveston-sea-lion-fails-eat-their-children
Hordes of parents dejected after Steveston sea lion fails to eat their children
