A $20,000 reward is being offered as federal authorities seek to identify and prosecute a boater who was caught on video speeding over sea lions earlier this month in the Columbia River.
NOAA launched an investigation after the footage, captured April 3 by a Portland resident, began to circulate via social media. (The footage is posted below.)
It shows the boater plowing over groups of sea lions, in apparent violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, as the animals rested on the surface near Hayden Island.
Oregon Live reported Friday that NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is offering the reward for information that leads to a “civic penalty or criminal conviction.”
The Marine Mammal Protection Act, passed in 1972, prohibits the hunting or harassment of marine mammals. Harassment is any act that significantly alters the mammals’ behavior.
The number of California sea lions – the same animals that inhabit the Columbia River – has increased steadily since the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Recent estimates place the West Coast population at about 280,000.
Fishermen often express frustration regarding sea lions, which possess a seemingly insatiable appetite for salmon and other fishes. But blatant acts of aggression toward sea lions rarely occur in open public settings.
According to Oregon Live, the vessel in question is an aluminum Hewescraft Pro-V Sea Runner with a dark blue stripe, measuring perhaps 20 feet.
Authorities are asking anyone who might recognize the boat or be able to identify the boater reach out to NOAA at 360-310-0259, or via its hotline at 800-853-1964.