Rescue crews and volunteers helped extract a sick and stuck sea lion from a Ucluelet beach late Thursday night.
An adult male steller sea lion was reported to the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Wednesday.
Reports suggested the sea lion was lethargic and appeared to be emaciated so a rescue team was assembled to capture the large animal and transport it to the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre.
“He was definitely not behaving normally. So the plan is to rescue him and transport him back to our rescue centre and give him treatment,” Deana Lancaster of the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre told the Westerly News Thursday night.
Collecting the sea lion was a tough task as it had beached itself high up a rocky shoreline near Ucluelet’s fuel dock. The rescue team tranquilized the animal and joined volunteers to carry it to the edge of a cement wall adjacent to the beach and a Windsor Plywood truck and crane then lifted the animal onto a transport vehicle to be taken to the rescue centre.
Lancaster said anyone who spots a marine mammal in distress should never approach the animal, but should instead immediately contact DFO at 1-800-465-4336 or the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre at 604-258-7325.
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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