The barks heard ‘round the world

The battle against the Newport Harbor sea lions is taking on epic

proportions, with newspapers as far away as Great Britain reporting

the story. And Newport Beach residents aren’t coming out smelling

terribly good.

Nor should they.

Unless it can be proven that something drastic has changed in the

past months to draw the sea lions in such numbers to the harbor,

those complaining about the sea lions’ noise and by-product vandalism

need to realize that this is nature at work. It is the very same

nature that, likely, drew them to live among the beauty that is

Newport Harbor. In other words, as more than one letter writer has

said, the sea lions were here first. Add to that the fact that they

are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Thankfully, it appears the city’s harbor commission is proposing

reasonable steps to handle this far-from crisis. Plans still being

finalized include making it illegal to feed wild animals such as sea

lions and to toss fish and similar morsels into the harbor. Those are

both far better than more dire and drastic suggestions such as

carting the sea lions off to far-away areas or even worse.

Of course, it will take time for any solutions to take hold -- if

they even do. Until then, those who are complaining should take a

look around them and decide whether they truly have a reason to be so

irritated. We suspect if they’re honest, they will find they don’t.

If they do, we suggest ear plugs.