Sea lion with mesh sealed mouth rescued at Race Rocks

This month, an adult male sea lion was rescued at Race Rocks with a gill net lodged so deeply around its mouth and neck that it was starving to death.

The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society, which sent rescuers to the ecological reserve off Metchosin on Oct. 22, described the situation as “harrowing.”

“Even for experienced rescuers, it was difficult to see the extent of this animal’s suffering,” said Lindsay Akhurst, senior manager at the society.

She said the net was tight and embedded deep into the sea lion’s neck and its mouth was completely closed.

“The sea lion couldn’t eat for weeks or even months,” Akehurst said. “We knew we had to act quickly. … It was one of the most heartbreaking but rewarding rescue missions I have been involved in.”

The sea lion’s plight was reported two days earlier by an ecologist at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Rescuers coordinated with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, British Columbia Parks and Pearson College, which houses the Race Rocks Lighthouse guard.

Dr. Martin Haulena, the Vancouver Aquarium’s chief marine mammal rescue veterinarian, tranquilized the sea lion with a dart and the animal sank into the ocean. The drone, operated by federal fisheries officials, tracked the sea lion’s movements, helping the team approach it safely once the animal was completely tranquilized.

It took the team 75 minutes to carefully remove the mesh from the animal’s neck, face and mouth. The mesh was embedded so deep that surgical scissors were required to cut it.

After it was removed, the sea lion was given antibiotics, pain medication and was taken off the sedative. The animal was seen swimming away before being pulled onto a nearby rock, showing signs of recovery.

Haulena stressed the importance of preventing such incidents.

“Rescue operations like this highlight the ongoing problem of marine debris,” he said. “While we are grateful that this sea lion is recovering, we need to focus on preventing entanglements like this from happening in the first place.”

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, located approximately 1.5 km offshore and 14 km from Victoria, has been managed by Pearson College in Metchosin since 1997. The school has classrooms and dormitories for environmental guardians who monitor several buildings and an automated Canadian Coast Guard beacon. .

The group of small islands is sometimes called the Galapagos of the North due to the unique strong tidal current that attracts marine mammals, seabirds, fish, algae and sea grass.

It is a major rookery area for California and northern sea lions and a birthplace for seals, and is the northernmost colony on the Pacific coast of North America for the northern elephant seal.

In his daily censuslast updated Sunday, the guardian counted 282 sea lions, 425 California sea lions, 36 seals and seven killer whales, as well as “too many” humpback whales to count.

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