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Steveston Harbour warns of sea lion danger after yet another close encounter

These adults were spotted encouraging a young child to get close to a sea lion on the Richmond dock recently

It’s that time of the year again.

The weather’s getting better, tourists are flocking to Steveston and people are creeping closer to one of the village’s more animated residents – the sea lion.

So much so that the Steveston Harbour Authority (SHA) is once again urging people to keep their distance from the wild mammal.

SHA’s warning was prompted after yet another near miss down on Fisherman’s Wharf recently, where two parents were spotted encouraging their daughter to get closer to a sea lion for the purpose of a photo.

According to SHA, the adults appeared to even try to antagonize the sea lion to get a “better shot” of it.

Clearly the adults were unaware of the drama that unfolded in 2017, when a sea lion pulled a young girl into the harbour, and didn’t see the multiple warning signs on the dock.

For those unaware, six years ago, a little girl was pulled into the water by a sea lion as she sat at the dock posing for a photo, as people fed the mammal to get a closer look.

She was rescued by an older relative and appeared to be uninjured.

Sea lions "wild and unpredictable"

“We wanted to make sure that (the) general public are aware that sea lions are dangerous and should not be approached. They are wild and unpredictable,” SHA’s operations and security manager, Glenn Chow, told the Richmond News.

“California sea lions can weigh up to 1,000 pounds and can jump up to 10 feet in a single leap while on a dock.”

Chow said that, despite SHA placing signs and caution tape at the entrance of the floats, the public continues to ignore the signs and “walk right past and up to the sea lion to get a closer picture.

“As the weather continues to get better, we suspect this (could) become a larger issue.”

Chow added that SHA is looking into getting its warning signs displayed in multiple languages.

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