Ecopoetics Along Shorelines

As a stellar sea lion, my consumption of Chinook barely holds a candle to the number eaten by harbor seals. We consumed less Chinook individuals in 2010 than harbor seals ate in the early 1980s. These days, scientists estimate that we eat around 1 million individuals annually. Compare this to the 50 million individual Chinook eaten by harbor seals, or the ~13,000 metric tons eaten by Orcas, who sometimes eat us, too! Stellars like myself only consume ~1400 metric tons annually. Please keep us on the Endangered Species List, and focus management decisions on how to improve Chinook habitat for marine and human mammals alike.