Silencing sea lion’s roar

South Mooring Company owner Chuck South has big plans for his night crew and the sea lions they tangle with every night.

The bickering between the animals that South aims to quell has grown silent lately, officials said, but South’s crew is ready for more should the phone calls start coming in again. South is looking forward to next year’s incoming sea lions and says he’ll be ready for them if the city officials ask for his help.

And he anticipates they might.

South said a boat designed specifically for breaking up groups of sea lions is in the works, one on which the same man who controls the boat can also control the water cannon, cutting the crew — and cost — in half.

The city spent $600 a night for 17 nights, more than $10,000 total this summer, having South patrol the harbor and spray the animals with a hose in an effort to keep them from congregating and disturbing residents.

In mid-September, South and a small crew patrolled Newport Harbor from about 7 p.m. to between 1 and 3 a.m., looking for any rambunctious group of sea lions resting on a platform, barking up a storm. The crew stopped patrolling last week; as the water gets colder, the sea lions migrate to warmer climates, he said.

“They’re beach lords. Lords of the beach,” South said of the marine mammals’ temperament. “You get one male alone on a platform, he’s quiet, he just lays down and sleeps. But when another male wants the same spot, the bickering starts.”

The sea lions’ annual visit, or nuisance, depending on whom you talk to, made international headlines years ago when a larger-than-normal wave of them holed up in the harbor. With residents constantly calling in with complaints, Newport Beach city officials were running out of options.

“It was really my last straw, to tell you the truth. I couldn’t think of any alternatives,” said Chris Miller, Harbor Resources manager. “I called Chuck and said, ‘Chuck, I’m at my wit’s end. I got to find a solution to this problem.’ By the next day, he had a plan in place.”

City officials said they have received fewer complaints.

“We do feel that it did work,” said Ralph Rodheim, a harbor commissioner. Miller told commissioners the city has gotten fewer complaints, Rodheim said. He expressed the same concerns as others: The sea lions will keep coming, and in bigger waves.

“Next year, what I think we’ll have to do is just be cognizant of the [areas] the sea lions target, and when they get together there, nip it in the bud, real fast,” Miller said.

The Harbor Commission recently approved giving residents only a 10-day window, opposed to the previous 30, to sea-lion-proof their boats, docks or moorings once they receive a notice to do so.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.