anyone had seal problems??

[calicohunter17]

lateley i have run into a few sea lions everytime i go out and they have basically chased me off..
has anybody acutaly been bit or hurt by one of these lil bastrards
they have just been stealing fish but can they do damage

[phylo]

One of the places I spear on a regular basis has a pretty good sized colony of sea lions.. The most that they have ever done to me is scare the piss out of me by sneaking up on me by swimming really close and really fast... there is nothing like having a 12" sea lion come flying at you out of the murk! So far I have been lucky and they have not tried to steal my fish.

Phil

[xdannyx]

had baby seals nibble on my fins fairly often.

[Polystigma]

We were pestered constantly by 4-5 sea lions at Catalina. While we tried to spear yellows. The sea lions would come in and swoop on the bait ball. They spooked the bait so bad the YT did not wanna come through.

[blackmagic]

Stand your ground don't let them bully you out of the water. Giving in to them only reinforces their behavior and makes it worse for the next spearo.

[ralphthehalibut]

rojo has posted some pretty gnarly experiences with them.

For the most part they wont try and bite you (usually), but they WILL try and steal your fish, and if a 12' bull grabs a fish that's attached to your waist and starts swimming down, you can be in some serious drowning trouble.

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by ralphthehalibut

For the most part they wont try and bite you (usually), but they WILL try and steal your fish, and if a 12' bull grabs a fish that's attached to your waist and starts swimming down, you can be in some serious drowning trouble.

Which is one reason I take each fish back to the boat rather than towing it around on a stringer.

[Brian Koprinik]

sea lions usually only get my attention when i either have fish on me or are balling up the bait where i'm hunting. i just get aggressive with them by poking them w/ my tip. this week i was fortunate enough to make it out to clemente twice and both times there were multiple sea lions at my spot, i just acted aggressive every time they got close and they eventually stopped buzzing me.

[gonetobaja]

FACT: Harbor seals and Sea lions WILL bite you.

I call it the price of admission...




This shot is from a small female harbor seal from the Coronado Islands. Through a 7mill wetsuit. There was a baby very close and the diver did not notice it until he was close. He swam away and dove down only to be hit from 3:00 high on tricep. The diver did not take retrobution on the animal even though he had a clean shot. Cant be mad at a wild animal for being a wild animal. The diver was put on Antibiotics for two weeks and had a mild grade infection from the bite.

Im having the seal brought up on charges for a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act......it caused the diver to alter its natural behavior by screaming like a girl underwater.

[MACKFISH]

I hate to see what a big bull could do.I was in the water next to the guy whos arm is being shown above.That moma was very agressive and made a few runs at me while Brad was checking his arm..Never had a big one do anything but buzz me and try to steal fish.

[Captn Ron]

I've had them try to steal fish.....Important to stand your ground and don't train them that free divers = free fish.

Its a dog eat fish world out there

[calicohunter17]

yeah i have noticed they just swim at me really close and then dive off i have just bit standing my ground and pointing my guna t them but the still come after me no mater wat
and i am only sixteen so i have been a spearo for too too long so it spooks me alittle