An adult male sea lion with gill netting so deeply embedded around its mouth and neck that it was starving was rescued on Race Rocks this month.
The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society, which sent rescuers to the ecological preserve off Metchosin on Oct. 22, described the situation as “gut wrenching.”
“Even for seasoned rescuers, seeing the extent of this animal’s suffering was distressing,” said Lindsaye Akhurst, senior manager of the society.
She said the net was tight and embedded deep into the sea lion’s neck, and his mouth was completely wrapped shut.
“The sea lion hadn’t been able to eat for what could have been weeks or even months,” Akhurst said. “We knew we had to act fast. … This was one of the most heartbreaking but rewarding rescues I’ve been a part of.”
The distressed sea lion had been reported two days earlier by the ecoguardian at Race Rocks Ecological Preserve. Rescuers co-ordinated a response with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, B.C. Parks, and Pearson College, which posts the guardians at the Race Rocks lighthouse.
Dr. Martin Haulena, head veterinarian of Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue, sedated the sea lion with a dart, and the animal plunged into the ocean. A drone operated by federal fisheries personnel tracked the sea lion’s movements, helping the team approach safely once the animal was fully sedated.
It took 75 minutes for the the team to carefully remove the netting from around the animal’s neck, face and mouth. The netting was embedded so deeply that surgical scissors were required to cut away the entanglement.
After it was removed, the sea lion was given antibiotics, pain management and the sedative was reversed. The animal was observed swimming away and later hauled out onto a nearby rock, showing signs of recovery.
Haulena stressed the importance of preventing similar incidents.
“Rescues like this highlight the ongoing problem of marine debris,” he said. “While we’re grateful this sea lion is recovering, we need to focus on stopping these entanglements from happening in the first place.”
Race Rocks Ecological Preserve, located about 1.5 kilometres from shore and 14 km from Victoria, has been managed by Pearson College in Metchosin since 1997. The school maintains classrooms and residences there for ecoguardians who keep watch over several buildings and the Canadian Coast Guard’s automated lighthouse.
The group of small islands is sometimes called the Galapagos of the North because of its unique high tidal current that attracts marine mammals, sea birds, fish, algae and sea grass.
It’s a major haul out area for California and northern sea lions and a birthing rookery for harbour seals — and the most northerly birthing colony on the Pacific coast of North America for the northern elephant seal.
In its daily census, last updated on Sunday, a guardian counted 282 Steller sea lions, 425 California sea lions, 36 harbour seals and seven orcas, along with “too many” humpback whales to count.
