CHARLESTON, Ore. (AP) - One started biting at James Marron's yellow kayak. Another confronted fisherman Jeff Reeves as he walked along a dock with his grandson.

Marron headed for a mud flat and the California sea lion moved on, after waiting about 30 minutes. "He almost looked like a dog coming after you," Marron said.

Reeves said he and his grandson ran. "It was clear that I wasn't going to stand that sea lion down," he said.

They can reach 1,000 pounds and haul themselves onto the docks of the Charleston marina. And they are getting bolder.

Jan Hodder, an associate professor at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, said male California sea lions get more territorial during the spring as they prepare for the summer breeding season.

Another possibility involves tourists and fishermen who toss fish or fish guts into the water.

"These animals have habituated to human activities," Hodder said, adding that feeding sea lions is illegal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the same law that prohibits people from harming them under most circumstances.

"The important message for people is that they are wild animals and people should not approach them too closely," she said.

State Police Lt. David Gifford said he and his fellow officers typically hand out warnings and citations to people who feed sea lions but concentrate more on educating people to prevent harm to both humans and animals.

He said he hasn't seen many cases of people feeding sea lions in Charleston, but knows it happens and can be a problem. He said a sea lion at Newport bit a person last year who walked near its territory.

"It could have been protecting the area where it gets fed all of the time. That's the kind of problem we are trying to avoid," Gifford said.

Dan Morris, the owner of Basin Tackle Shop in Charleston and a retired fisherman, said he often hears complaints about sea lions and has had run-ins with a few.

"They are slowly becoming a direct hazard to the general public," Morris said, adding he fears that a child might he harmed. "Sometimes they are very aggressive on the dock and they won't let you by."

"They eat your fish they tangle your gear up. When there are sea lions around, you can't make a living. Fish won't come around," Morris said, adding he has shot several since he began fishing in the 1970s.

"They are not being managed anymore. They are managing us. Sea lions have more rights than we do," he said.

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman said there are provisions allowing people to kill or injure a marine mammal if attacked.

"But you do have to be threatened by it, not just inconvenienced by it. For example, if you encounter a sea lion on a marina pier on the way to your boat and can't get on, that's too bad. But if (you are) being attacked, you can kill it to protect yourself from being killed (or) injured," Gorman said.

He said NOAA gets several reports a year of aggressive sea lions occasionally biting people, but that there has been no increase in such encounters.

National Marine Fisheries Service Fishery biologist Garth Griffin said there have been cases of sea lions attacking people in California.

He said Hodder's link of behavior to breeding and territory would make sense if Charleston were near the breeding rookeries in California.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the animals are becoming more accustomed to interacting with humans and carving out a living in areas we think of as our own. They've lost a lot of fear," he said.

The best bet, Gorman said, is to stay clear of them.

"They are formidable and they can be very nasty and I strongly advise to give them a very wide berth." (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)