Door kogel gewonde zeeleeuw in Sacramento River (VS) laat zich niet vangen...

Injured sea lion in Sacramento River eludes

rescuers

12-11-2009 By Anna Tong and Matt Weiser, atong@sacbee.com, The Sacramento Bee, USA


Rescuers have been unable to find a sea lion that had made its way up the Sacramento River to near Old Sacramento and appeared to suffer from a severe eye injury.

Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, this morning said three volunteers from the center traveled to Sacramento on Wednesday in hopes of helping the animal they believe was shot near its right eye.

A sea lion with an injury near its eye was seen near Tower Bridge.

Oswald said that, based on photographs of the animal, he believes it is a male sea lion weighing between 350 and 500 pounds.

Police and fire officials used a patrol boat to search for the animal without any luck.

Patrick Rubin, a Sacramento River houseboat owner, saw the animal and said it was suffering.
"He's injured really bad right near the eye," Rubin said Wednesday. "There's a huge gash, and it looks like there is some oozing coming out, and it just looks terrible. You look at it, and you can't help but just feel sad."

The sea lion was resting on a dock near the Tower Bridge at Old Sacramento until about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday The dock was too small for volunteers to safely net animal and take it to Sausalito for treatment, Oswald said. The volunteers hoped the sea lion would reappear on the shore, but instead it slipped back into the river and hasn't been seen since.

"The sea lion hasn't been back to the dock after it went back in the river yesterday," said Kyle Watson, a sailor on the Hawaiian Chieftain, an educational vessel for fourth- and fifth-graders docked near Joe's Crab Shack.

Marine Mammal Center volunteers will not come back for the sea lion unless it becomes stranded again, Oswald said.
And despite appearances the animal might be fine, he said.

"Salt water could be really good for the sea lion to heal its wound," Oswald said. "Sea lions out in the ocean get bit by sharks constantly, but they heal. While the wound looks horrible in photographs, it may not be so bad."

The Marine Mammal Center rescues marine animals along the California coast from Marin to San Luis Obispo counties. The center has about 800 volunteers and has rescued more than 1,500 animals this year, the majority of which are sea lions.

(Bron: http://www.sacbee.com/)
(Bron foto: Sacramento Bee)