Near the bay entrance, somewhere between Harbor Island and the channel mouth, there is a weathered barge anchored in the water. From a distance it looks occupied. From closer, it is clearly very occupied — by California sea lions. They pack its platform, haul enormous bodies over each other's necks, and bark with the particular conviction of animals who have found something worth defending. Pelicans circle overhead. You smell them before you hear them, and you hear them long before you arrive.
The barge is operated by Everingham Brothers Bait Company, which has supplied live anchovies and sardines to the San Diego sportfishing fleet for decades. The operation runs 364 days a year, around the clock. Sportfishers departing before dawn stop at the barge to load their bait tanks before heading into the open Pacific for bluefin, yellowtail, albacore, and yellowfin tuna.
California sea lions worked out at some point that a floating platform full of live fish was an excellent arrangement, and they have never revised that assessment. The barge was designed for one purpose and has acquired a second one: it is now a permanent sea lion haul-out, year-round, regardless of conditions. The company and the animals have arrived at an accommodation, or at least a routine.
Sea lions are not shy. They haul out on anything available — docks, buoys, disabled boats, harbor infrastructure of all kinds. The bait barge suits them particularly well because it is stable, anchored, and surrounded by fish. Other barge inhabitants include brown pelicans, cormorants, and the occasional Brandt's cormorant.
California sea lions range from British Columbia to central Mexico and are among the most common marine mammals on the West Coast. Adult males can reach several hundred pounds. They are highly social and tend to congregate at established haul-out sites, returning year after year. San Diego Bay has several such sites, of which the bait barge is the most reliably crowded.
The animals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits harassment, pursuit, or feeding. Watching them from the water, at a respectful distance, is fine — and from JADA's deck the barge is close enough to smell, hear, and watch without crowding them. The barking is persistent and carries across a wide stretch of water.
There is something straightforward about the arrangement. A company needs to store fish. Sea lions need a place to rest. The Pacific is full of compromises more complicated than this one.
Sources: San Diego Boat Tours, "San Diego Bait Barge" and "Sea Lions on San Diego Bay"; The Coast News Group, "Everingham Bros. Bait Co."
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