Chronology of Events

Clinton Abbott Biography

Sea Lion Devastation
  -Chronology of Events
    1937
    1938
    1939
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January to March 1939
Four months after the Ross Company regained its concession, Abbott again hit the conservancy trail. Learning about the new concession through newspaper clippings, Abbott contacted the American Society of Mammalogists and initiated a new letter writing campaign to Mexican officials

April and May 1939
In April of 1939, California commercial fishermen took a major step to remove protection of the California sea lion along the coast. Complaining about the sea lion’s supposed negative effect on the fishing industry, they introduced a new bill, A.B. 1365, to remove restrictions on killing the animals.

Ed Fletcher, Photo courtesy of San Diego Historical Society

Reverting his attention from the Ross Company, Abbott contacted his local representatives – Jeanette Daley in the State Assembly, and Ed Fletcher and Frank Gordon in the State Senate. With his reputation in the matter preceding him, Abbott quickly made his influence felt, even after the bill was recommended to pass by committee.

June 1939
With the flurry of letters Abbott sent to local representatives in Sacramento, he was able to gain a few ears. On June 1st, the state assembly voted on A.B. 1365. For the next couple weeks, the Society was left in the dark concerning the results. Conflicting reports came to Abbott, first saying that the bill had passed and was then defeated. It was not until the 13th that Abbott received official word from the California State Fisheries that the bill had indeed been defeated after several attempts were made to pass it.

With this success Abbott had now become a major player in sea lion conservancy. Reflecting this, in late June, Bird-Lore, the journal of the National Association of Audubon Societies, asked Abbott to submit an article concerning the sea lion campaign.

July and August 1939
Abbott’s initial response was to turn down Bird-Lore’s offer, feeling that the success in defeating A.B. 1365 had made the article less timely. However, learning from his earlier mistakes, Abbott decided that complacency on the issue could only do the campaign harm, as had happened when Ross renewed his license, and agreed to write the article.

Upon writing his first draft, Abbott immediately became wary of any possible libel suit against himself and the Museum, an issue which postponed the article and led to a major rewrite. Mention of the Ross Company and its “ugly disposition” were removed while Abbott shortened the length to please the Museum and Society’s officers. With these precautions, Abbott submitted the article for the October issue of Bird-Lore.

September and October 1939
The response to the article, “Sea Lion Slaughter,” was positive. It was made the lead article in the issue, with the Audubon Society’s Executive Director, John Baker, claiming that the article would do “quite a bit of good” while recalling a similar effort in Maine to save the harbor seal. J. R. Pemberton, governor of the Cooper Ornithological Club and Abbott’s confidant in the sea lion slaughter campaign, congratulated Abbott on the “fine style” of the article.

While Abbott, stinging from the legal necessity to omit the Ross Company’s name, called the article “somewhat superficial and hastily written,” it had obviously influenced a good number of people.

November and December 1939
The Bird-Lore article was also reprinted several times. Most intriguing of these reprints was the Spanish language version published in Mexico, after Abbott’s secretary’s father translated it for the Mexican press. With this, Abbott’s word had reached the popular front, fulfilling the campaign’s early aim to arouse international sentiment against the killings.

The article also proved to be Abbott’s last major effort in the sea lion conservancy campaign. Fearing legal retribution against the Museum and himself, Abbott felt it best to step aside and allow other groups with more “powerful leverage” to engage in the fight against the Ross Company.

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