Picture of the week

Sea Lion on the American River at the Nimbus dam basin

A sea lion on the edge of the basin just below Nimbus Dam on the American River.  As the steelhead run started winding down, this sea lion was spotted on the American River just outside the fish hatchery.  Apparently it followed the steelhead all the way from the Pacific up to this most eastern point on the river before being blocked by the dam.  On days when the fish hatchery was processing steelhead, it was spotted eating the steelhead as they were released back out of the hatchery while still in a partially anesthesized state.  Easy pickings for this rather large predator not normally known to travel this far up river.

Below are some additional images captured of this sea lion, including some showing it pass up through the rapids of the weir and into the basin just below the dam.  Other images are shown of a northern river otter, plus some various birds also photographed that morning.  The birds include a common goldeneye, common merganser, nutalls woodpecker, great blue heron, and a rock wren.

All content and images are property of Stephen Fischer Photography, copyright 2010-2018.  Last updated: 2/25/2018   ()