Death threats. Kidnapping plans. Nothing could stop Ballard's sea lions

October 18, 2018 / 12:04 am

caption: A sea lion swims around the Ballard Locks in 2014.

"Ong ong ong" or "arf arf arf" — what does the sea lion say?

Our Twitter audience couldn't come to a confident answer on how to describe the sound that sea lions make.

Serious question — what sound do sea lions make?
— KUOW Public Radio (@KUOW) October 15, 2018

Either way, Douglass and Julie McCrea wondered why they hear less of that distinctive, reverberating bark at the Ballard Locks. The couple took their kayaks there several times and didn’t see any of the one of the most notorious loungers, bingeing as they do on salmon, and creating a ruckus.

So the McCreas asked us to investigate this mystery.

The Locks were a popular hangout for the sea lions since it creates a bottleneck for salmon. For decades, state officials, protesters and the sea lions debated what to about this all-you-can-eat salmon buffet the sea lions were taking advantage of.

Scare tactics, death threats (to the sea lions) and kidnapping plans ensued. But that’s not what ultimately caused the sea lions to skip town on an easy meal.

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Matt Martin
Podcast Producer

Matt Martin is a podcast producer who has worked on many different show for KUOW. He pitched and created THE WILD with Chris Morgan, a rich and experiential podcast about ecology and conservation. Matt also produced the Seattle music history podcast Let the Kids Dance and the award-winning Ghost Herd. Before moving to the on-demand side of the station, Matt worked as a producer on The Record, KUOW's local news show. He has also worked as a general assignment reporter and host for public radio stations in upstate New York and rural Alaska. Matt got his start in media as an intern with StoryCorps and Aljazeera America.
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Deborah Wang
Contributing Reporter, Editor, & Host

Deborah is a contributing reporter, editor and host at KUOW. Since joining the staff in 2005, Deborah has done everything from political reporting to podcast hosting and is now serving as Interim News Director. She is an award–winning radio and television journalist whose career spans more than three decades.
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