Tourists may get a kick out of the honking antics, but the swelling, foul-smelling population of sea lions in Monterey Harbor do not conjure warm and fuzzy thoughts from those who work on the docks.

"I think they''re great," says Diane Colwell, operations manager for the Monterey Bay Boatworks Company at the Breakwater Cove marina. "I love them. But there''s a place for them--somewhere else."

As happens periodically, people and sea lions are vying for the same space in the harbor, and in a twist that''s gone unexplained, the resident gang of 150 or so has grown to an estimated and stubborn 800 to 1,000.

The herd has expanded just as Congress considers changes to the federal protections for sea lions and other marine mammals.

From her second floor office, Colwell has an excellent view of the cove and marina. Sea lions are draped everywhere. Some sailboats moored between the marina and Fisherman''s Wharf are wrapped in orange plastic construction netting, as the sea lions like to haul out in the cockpit of sailboats. Sometimes the netting works, but when sea lions pile into an open boat they leave behind pools of barf and dung. Colwell says a recently buffed-out boat was so badly damaged it had to be brought right back to the boatyard.

"It''s just a bummer," says Colwell. "They''re protected, and that''s fine but who''s protecting us when they mess up our stuff?"

Looking past the mass of writhing sea lions squirming on a dirt embankment, she points out boats they''ve claimed, which list from the weight.

"This is overpopulation," she says. "It''s cyclical. When it comes it''s very devastating. What''s really scary is they''re supposed to be gone by the first of July and they''re not."

Colwell says she has hired two full-time employees whose sole duty consists of trying to keep the sea lions--and sea lion turds--off the docks.

They may soon get a hand from Capitol Hill.

On August 19, City of Monterey public facilities manager Carl Anderson testified before the House Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans at a field hearing in San Diego. He was joined by various industry and government representatives to talk about the impacts of California sea lions. In his remarks, Anderson told the panel that the sea lions have taken over public boat ramps, broken docks and attacked people (though none seriously). He told the committee that 100 sea lions managed to sink a 26-foot catamaran; that 40 dinghies were either wrecked or sunk this year; that it costs the city $2,000 to $3,000 a month to deal with them, and so on.

"For our current problem, we have no idea if, or when, this problem will end," he said, asking for some type of non-lethal control. "Since they are a federally protected marine mammal, we have very limited means available to us to discourage the animals from coming up into public areas."

Kaitilin Gaffney of the Ocean Conservancy sees the difficulty the problem poses.

One idea for non-lethal control has been to issue some sort of birth control to the animals. She says that may work in zoos but not in the wild.

"It''s not like ''Here''s your prescription, please take it''," she says. "There isn''t an easy answer but I don''t think birth control is going to solve the problem."

Under a provision in the Marine Mammal Protection Act that prohibits "harassment," sea animals such as sea lions, otters, seals and whales cannot be bothered in any way. Just what defines harassment--which now can be something as benign as waking a sleeping seal--will likely be changed under the re-authorization of the Act now underway. The new bill passed the Fisheries Subcommittee last week and should be scheduled for a hearing before the full Resources Committee in the coming weeks.

A major change in the definition of harassment marks a key to the new bill, as current language makes nearly any disturbance of a marine mammal illegal.

According to Brian Kennedy, communications director for the Republican-controlled Resources Committee, the new definition is an attempt to "tailor for common sense" language that he says many find too restrictive.

In Monterey, the loosened restriction could allow for a more aggressive method for managing sea lions in the harbor, and Kennedy anticipates a loud outcry from animal rights activists. Actually shooting sea lions is a possibility--albeit remote, Kennedy says.

"They assume that because we''re Republicans, our solution is to whack ''em and stack ''em," he says.

Although culling the animals and other population control methods remain on the table, the public response to slaughtering sea lions would be off the charts. "We''re seeking ways in which that problem can be addressed in a humane, non-lethal way," Kennedy says.

The Act applies to all marine mammals, and the changes are being watched as well for what they could mean for whales.

The Navy recently lost a court case over its research of long range sonar systems. Environmentalists decry the technology because it hurts and can even kill whales and dolphins. The new definition of harassment would open the way for that type of research.

Kennedy says that while the sea lion and whale issues are separate, the new definition "would affect the Navy."

Dan Costa, professor of ecology at UC-Santa Cruz, studies sea lion movement pattern. He says its not clear why so many have gathered in Monterey Harbor, but that California sea lion populations are growing at a rate of 6 to 10 percent per year in the absence of the El Niño events which regularly wipe out the young.

With coastal development increasing along with the sea lion populations, Costa says interactions--and the calls for population control--are inevitable. Though he doesn''t advocate killing some sea lions to thin the herd, as was done in the mid-20th century, he says, "People have to realize that the solutions to these problems are not always pretty."