Sea Lions, Salmon and Bears, Oh My!

Another ordinary day in Juneau, Alaska

“We just got in a fight with a sea lion.” The message from my daughter falls into the category of “texts I never expected to receive.”

It ranks on par with the “There’s a big bear in your backyard,” call we got from the neighbor this morning as we leashed the dog for her walk. Moments like these always make visits with my sister in Alaska so memorable.

Fresh Fish or Pizza?

Today the dads and daughters went out on the boat for a last day of fishing. Unlike the “guys only” outings, communication is much better with the girls on board.

For one thing, we can prepare our welcome accordingly. Nothing annoys a fisherman more than to be greeted with enthusiasm and expectation when the fish cooler is empty. With the girls sending a catch-of-the-day report, we know whether to plan for a fresh fish dinner or order a pizza.

Close Encounters of the Sea Lion Kind

Tonight we’ll get all the details of the sea lion altercation. Apparently, the sea lion thought to help itself to the halibut tied on the stringer on the side of the boat. For now, our responses to the text reflected our primary areas of concern:

My sister – “Oh, no! Is everyone okay?”

My nephew – “Did it dent the boat?”

My son – “Did you save the fish?”

When the fishermen return, they are full of stories about their day on the water. Again, the girls supply the media: photos and videos of the day’s catch, and footage of the sea lion swimming toward the boat. The dads yell to scare it off, and then rush to haul the halibut into the boat before the sea lion can take a bite.

At one point my brother-in-law hooked a double ugly (also known as a sculpin or Irish lord fish), and the sea lion grabbed it as he reeled it in. That’s one we want to lose, but of course the sea lion spit it out.

An Inexact Science

We try to time our trip to the annual silver salmon run, but the run is late this year. We caught a couple salmon earlier in the week, and today was the last opportunity. The guys stowed their halibut rods and prepped their gear for salmon.

Trolling for salmon is an inexact science. You have to balance boat speed, downrigger depth, color of flasher and presentation of bait with location, currents and just plain luck. Our intrepid anglers prevailed, landing a 31-inch salmon at the end of the day.

And, just to put a gold North star on it, there were three Dungeness crabs in the crab pots they pulled on the way back to the harbor.

Life is good.