We’re past the mid-point! The winter solstice was yesterday, so now we’re on our way back to the sun. That means a lot here in the great land. So does our wildlife, which brings us to the first item:
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Sea lions are big and can be mean. They also have mouths full of sharp teeth and can move surprisingly fast on land. So when one goes rogue, as it were, something has to be done. So: An Alaskan solution to an Alaska problem.
A dead sea lion filled the back of Brandon Ware’s pickup, hanging off the tailgate. Ware was wrestling with fat and fur, slowly skinning the animal.
“All I have to do is gently run my knife through it,” he said. “It separates the fat from the body and pulls the skin down a little bit more, just like peeling a banana.”
The massive animal had been terrorizing people and pets in Petersburg’s South Harbor. It was killed Dec. 7, but not by law enforcement. Instead, they collaborated with Ware, who is Tlingit and grew up hunting marine mammals. He plans to use the hide and whiskers for traditional regalia.
The problem:
Harbor Master Glorianne Wollen said the sea lion had been snapping at people and pets, stalking them as they walked the docks. She said people felt hunted.
Wollen said when there’s an aggressive sea lion hanging around, she’s always concerned about people with pets and little kids. She said a sea lion can climb up and easily move around on the docks.
And the solution? A pair of Tlingit brothers, who by treaty, can harvest sea mammals.
Jim Kerr is Petersburg’s Police Chief. He said the department had tried deterrents like tasers, but the sea lion was unfazed. He says when the department kills a sea lion, NMFS takes head for necropsies, and the rest gets discarded. That doesn’t sit right with him.
“If you harvest an animal, you want to use it to its full potential,” he said. “And I look at the sea lion the same way. I don’t want to waste anything. I don’t feel right doing something like that.”
Ware had heard about the aggressive sea lion through the grapevine. He told Kerr he’d love a chance to subsistence harvest the animal. Kerr liked the idea.
“That means it doesn’t go to waste,” he said. “The police department was able to alleviate the public safety concern, and Brandon Ware, being Alaska Native, could legally harvest it for cultural reasons and continue the tradition of harvesting sea lions.”
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Sadly, the animal had to be destroyed, but at least this way it gets put to some use, and the Tlingit community got to carry on some of their traditions, as they were promised by treaty.
See Related:Abandoned Baby Walrus Finds New Home With Alaska’s SeaLife Center
Alaska Man score: 4.5 of 5 moose nuggets. Sad about the seal – but the Tlingits get to recover a bit of their heritage, and that’s always a good thing.
And, finally, a Mat-Su Valley landmark is open in its shiny new location: Gorilla Fireworks!
Gorilla Fireworks is now operational out of their new building in Houston, located on the opposite side of the Parks Highway from their original stand. While the building is now open for customers, the crew is still preparing and organizing their fireworks displays for the New Year’s celebration.
“We have a massive selection of options, and the cool opportunity to be in this building for the first season,” Manager Samantha Bouma said.
Fireworks are only legal in the borough on one night, New Year’s Eve. On that night the sky lights up, all up and down the lake; we get a very good view from our house, which is on a slight rise overlooking said lake. Of course, Alaskans being Alaskans, the fireworks show starts several days before that legality window and continues for some time after. Since we generally don’t have fireworks on the 4th of July, as it’s light through the night about then, we make do with winter displays.
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Alaska Man score: 5 moose nuggets. Good for Gorilla Fireworks.
And finally, some thoughts on education, and teaching.