John Wilfer, the pilot of the fake life-sized orca vessel, looks out from an opening as the whale is moved into position in the East End Mooring Basin on Thursday in Astoria, Ore. An effort to use a fake orca to scare off hundreds of sea lions crowding docks off the Oregon coast has ended, at least temporarily, with the fiberglass creature belly-up after it was swamped by a passing ship. Photo

PORTLAND — When a 32-foot replica killer whale buzzed through the water to scare off hundreds of sea lions piled on an Oregon dock, onlookers cheered. And then the dummy orca went belly-up.

The motorized fiberglass orca was brought to the seaside town of Astoria on Thursday as a sort of maritime Clint Eastwood — called upon to deal with ne’er-do-wells, in this case sea lions crowding onto docks and making it difficult for locals to access their boats.

But the orca’s first day on the job was a flop.

About 1,000 people cheered as the dummy whale — with its human operator inside — took to the water Thursday night. Jim Knight, executive director of the Port of Astoria, said sea lions that were crowded onto the docks became “deathly silent.”

As a cargo ship passed by, the phony orca started to list from the vessel’s wake. And then the bogus orca capsized.

“Our crew from the port had to go rescue the operator so he didn’t drown,” Knight said.