THE HARBOR COLUMN:

Ahoy,

Watch out, as Chuck South is on patrol in Newport Harbor — not for boaters, but for elusive sea lions.

Newport Beach has contracted with Chuck to patrol the harbor at nights to shoo away noisy sea lions that haul out on the boats and docks in the harbor.

Chuck, owner of South Mooring Company, is joined with his crew — Gary Cate and Javier Salas — to keep watch until after midnight, especially for the male sea lions, which are very territorial. The bull sea lions will bark at other sea lions to protect territory. That usually amounts to an all-night racket.

The Maine Mammal Protect Act of 1972 protects sea lions from human harm.

You can, however, shoo sea lions off your boat or dock with non-harmful techniques. Remember, these critters are sea lions and not harbor seals.

When Chuck and his crew discover sea lions barking, the crew will pick up the hose aboard their boat to harmlessly spray the pinnipeds with a stream of high-pressure sea water.

This annoys the sea lions, and they will slip back into the water. The idea is to move the sea lions apart and help spread the population so that the lions are not barking at each other.

Newport Harbor and other harbors on the coast are experiencing an increase in the pinniped population, and one reason is the lack of natural predators.

The great white shark loves to eat sea lions, but I have never seen big whitey swimming in the harbor looking for a meal.

Tip of the week is to make your boat or dock inhospitable for sea lions to haul out upon.

Keep in mind that California Fish and Game Department officials will not allow you to unintentionally harm other wildlife in the process, such as covering your boat in netting. Netting will catch birds in the webbing, so how about removing swim-steps if feasible, strategically placing barriers, or trying one of the new automatic robotic water squirters?

Here is an extra tip — if you leave coffee out for Chuck and his crew, then they might pay extra attention to your area with their big squirt gun.

Remember to tune in every Saturday at 11 a.m. to “Capt. Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show” broadcasting on KLAA-AM (830).

Safe voyages.

MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating columnist. Send marine-related thoughts and story suggestions to mike@boathousetv.com or go to www.boathousetv.com.