Sea Lions and color of kayaks

So looking into getting a kayak for fishing. Will probably utilize it some for local lakes for tout. But main focus will be salmon, halibut and Rockfish out of Valdez and whittier.

I have had two different people tell me that Sea Lions will harass you allot. More in a yellow kayak versus any other color.

Anyone have experience with this that can confirm or state that it is hawgwash?

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Hog wash.  They bug kayaks with fish in them.

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Hog wash.  They bug kayaks with fish in them.

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Hmm...maybe statistically people that have the genetic predisposition to choose yellow kayaks happen to catch more fish* (PelagicPaddler, Spot, Ndogg come to mind).  Therefore, there are more fishy odors coming from the kayak attracting the seal lions.  

* more than me anyways. 

Hog wash - unlike fish, who see colors, and are terrified on the color mango... Sea lions are color blind having only one set of cones.

I think you're better off selecting a high visibility color to improve your odds of being seen by the power boats going in and out of Whittier and Valdez, which probably present more of a risk to you than sea lions.

Twice this year I've been out sharing waters with sea lions. On one occasion, one surfaced and eyed me from about 25 ft, then went back to fishing without disturbance. On the other, four showed up in the area I was fishing, causing lots of salmon to jump. I reeled up and watched, before heading off to fish at a safer distance. They were following the fish, not interested in me and my yellow kayak. On the latter occasion, I had two sockeyes loaded in the tank well giving off that nice fishy smell.

This is just my thinking on it -- bear in mind it's my first year fishing in saltwater from my kayak.  I'm sure the more experienced guys will be able to give a more informed view.

I'd like to know who gives all these critters the eye exams and determined that so many are color blind? what if some are and some aren't and the only ones they checked are the ones that are color blind. I bet if they were all totally blind they would still be after your fish, It's What they Do..

and if that doesn't work stuff it in a salmon

Biologists look for them to have the right parts. They come for the smell.

You are correct Rev, definitely hogwash

The shape of the spectral sensitivity curve remained invariant despite large changes in chromatic adaptation, implying that harbor seals have only a single cone photopigment. This means that harbor seals must lack color vision at photopic light levels [normal light] . Any color discrimination in this species would have to be based on combined input from rods and cones and thus restricted to mesopic light levels [dark, but not pitch black]. The spectral sensitivity of the cone pigment in the harbor seal is shifted to shorter wavelengths than those of terrestrial carnivores, consistent with adaptation to the aquatic photic environment.

http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z98-129?journalCode=cjz

edit: the plot thickens...

hree California sea lions were trained to discriminate between a colored stimulus and two shades of gray in a 3-fold simultaneous choice situation. The colors blue, green and red were tested against shades of gray varying from low to high relative brightness. All animals distinguished blue from gray; two animals also distinguished green from gray; but none discriminated between red and gray. Our data suggest that California sea lions have dichromatic color vision. Their ability to discriminate colors in the blue-green part of the spectrum could be a physiological adaptation to their aquatic coastal habitat.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1604834

Still, even if they could see in color er our visible spectrum, the water absorbs the colors red-orange-yellow first and the water here in the PNW aint exactly crystal clear!