Rescue team saves Steller sea lion with plastic strap around its neck

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The sea lion observed on a small island with plastic around its neck.

SAN JUAN COUNTY, Wash. - A rescue team of 12 professionals removed a plastic packing strip caught around the neck of a sea lion off the coast of a small island in San Juan County on Wednesday.

In early July, local whale watching operators reported seeing a Steller sea lion with a piece of plastic around its neck, cutting into its skin and blubber. Several surveys concluded that the entanglement would be lethal without intervention, so a team of professionals from Sealife Response, Rehabilitation, and Research (SR3), The Whale Museum and the SeaDoc Society embarked on a mission to remove the strap and save the animal’s life.

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Twelve crew members, including two wildlife veterinarians, sailed out on three research boats and located the animal. They used a dart projector to sedate the 500-pound sea lion from a distance, along with a drone to track it as the medicine took effect. This ensured that the animal could be safely handled but would remain conscious enough to breathe on its own.

One boat approached slowly and cut the plastic strap, revealing a deep wound in its neck. Crew members gave medication to reverse the sedation and continued to monitor the animal from a distance. Within minutes, the sea lion swam slowly back to the small island where it had been sleeping and hauled itself out of the water.

Now free of its entanglement, SR3 reports that the sea lion has been observed multiple times acting normally and socializing with other sea lions.