A respected scientist has been accused of violating federal laws protecting the endangered Steller sea lions he was studying in Prince William Sound and Resurrection Bay.
Randall W. Davis, a professor in the marine biology department at Texas A&M University at Galveston, is accused of capturing some sea lions that were too young and others without a required permit and of using unauthorized sedation drugs.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is asking for a $10,000 fine and has proposed denying Davis research rights for the next five years.
In a telephone interview Monday, Davis said the civil charges are bogus. He said he plans to fight what he called "technical violations that have been handled in a Draconian way."
"The research community I'm a part of is to help the decline of the Steller sea lion," he said. "We're working to improve the population."
Davis has been studying marine mammals in Alaska for 30 years and sea lions in Alaska for 15 years. He has published dozens of articles on the species. In 2003 and 2004, he partnered with the Seward-based Alaska SeaLife Center to study the winter habitat and habits of juvenile sea lions, perhaps the most vulnerable group of the imperiled species.
The population of Steller sea lions plummeted in the late 1970s. In the western part of the state, the mammals are listed as endangered; those populating the eastern part of Alaska -- from about Cordova east -- are listed as threatened. Davis was working in a part of Prince William Sound where the endangered listing applies.
Davis is not specifically charged with harming or abusing the animals, said assistant special agent Kevin Heck of NOAA. Davis said the animals he captured, tagged with satellite tracking devices and released all fared well in the six to eight months during which he monitored them.
NOAA began its investigation after Davis submitted a required annual report to the agency. Questions about his work arose from information in the report, Heck said, and NOAA began to investigate.
Davis' team was only supposed to capture sea lions at least 1 year old. According to the violation notice, Davis is accused of capturing 11 Steller sea lions that were too young.
Davis said it was possible his team captured animals that were 10 months old and not 12 months old. Divers use food to entice the animals underwater and nooses to catch them, and it is impossible to distinguish an age difference of only two months, he said. There is no scientifically valid method to tell the age of a young sea lion, he said.
NOAA says Davis also used unauthorized sedation drugs. Davis said there was an incident in which his veterinarian anesthesiologist used Valium to sedate one sea lion. Davis said he was not on the research vessel at the time and did not learn about it until a month later.
Don Calkins, the Steller sea lion and northern fur seal program manager at Alaska SeaLife Center who was working with Davis at the time, said Valium is often used to calm sea lions and that it does not harm them. He also said the drug is allowed to be used on sea lions under different permits.
"It's a benign drug used regularly on marine mammals. There is no reason not to allow him to use it," he said.
Davis said the third accusation, that he was conducting research without a permit, disturbs him the most; he described it as a paperwork snafu.
According to NOAA, Davis' research permit expired in 2003; he said he believes the three-year permit was valid until Dec. 31, 2004. A record of the permit on the agency's Web site has the Dec. 31, 2004 expiration date.
"It's all very confusing and perplexing, but I'm certainly really disappointed," Davis said. "We're going to fight it."
Calkins also called the violations technical and said that the permit system needs to change. He said the agency's permit regulations are ambiguously worded and too often enforced by nonscientists who don't understand field research.
"I think that at some point just about every researcher that has operated under these permits has violated them at one point or another," Calkins said. "It is ridiculous for them to go after (Davis). This is very much over the top."
Heck said he's confident the agency's accusations are well-founded.
Daily News reporter Megan Holland can be reached at mrholland@adn.com.
