The National Research Council report `Decline of the Steller Sea Lion in Alaskan Waters' is available at www.nap.edu

The National Academies Press (NAP) was created by the National Academies to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States.
10:35:03 PM    

The slaughter of more than half a million whales in the North Pacific and Bering Sea set off an ecological chain reaction that is wiping out sea lions and kelp forests today, according to a controversial new report by researchers from Santa Cruz, Seattle and Alaska.

The loss of whales drove a fearsome ocean predator -- the killer whale -- to look for other creatures to eat, the researchers say. As a result, one species after another was driven to the brink of collapse over a period of decades and across a vast expanse of ocean.

Source: Mercury News.com]
10:32:01 PM