From an AP story about declining sea lion populations off Alaska:<p>At Sea Lion Rocks a few days later, the sea lion bull was not eager to budge. <p>Hegwer approached to within 12 feet, but the recalcitrant bull wouldn't leave until Ruehl Holmberg, piloting the skiff that had delivered Hegwer, pounded an oar on the seat. Noise from two directions chased the beast into the water. <p>That allowed Hegwer and her assistants to collect the feces, a material so potent it can bring tears to a man's eyes. <p>"It looks an awful lot like dog poop," she said, but the stench is more like ammonia and rotten meat. Sea lions drink no fresh water and instead get it from the fish they eat. <p>"The quantity can be amazing sometimes," she said, and can fill a gallon bag. <p>Hegwer freezes the scat and ships it to University of Alaska Fairbanks offices in Kodiak, where it's rinsed in a sieve and shipped to a lab in British Columbia for analysis. <p>"We're able to identify most of what the Stellers eat, down to species level," Hegwer said.
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