Emergency personnel and bystanders joined with Marine Mammal Rescue Centre staff to try to save a stricken steller sea lion found on a beach in north Nanaimo.
The animal was discovered Thursday at about 11 a.m. by a man walking his dog on Invermere Beach, located at the bottom of a steep, high bluff at the end of Invermere Road.
sa国际传媒淗e came upon a sea lion. He actually almost tripped over him because he didnsa国际传媒檛 realize he was there,sa国际传媒� said Emily Johnson, assistant manager of the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre, based in Vancouver. sa国际传媒淗e did the right thing and gave us a call.sa国际传媒�
Johnson said the man took pictures of the animal and sent them to the centre so staff could identify the species and get some idea of the animalsa国际传媒檚 behaviour and condition. Upon determining the sea lion needed help, the centre applied for permission from the Department of Fisheries and Ocean to put a response team together to collect the animal and caught a ferry for Nanaimo. The team arrived at the site at about 6 p.m.
sa国际传媒淗e was definitely not exhibiting any sort of normal behaviour, so we opted to sedate him and sling him and carry him up to the road,sa国际传媒� Johnson said. sa国际传媒淚t was quite an undertaking.sa国际传媒�
Access to Invermere Beach is via a set of more than 300 stairs, but the team opted to carry the sea lion sa国际传媒� which Johnson estimated weighed between 300 and 350 kilograms sa国际传媒� up a trail that runs alongside the stairs, with some help from people in the community.
sa国际传媒淚t was one of those things where everything sort of came together,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭he community really rallied. Weirdly enough, my husband has a friend [who works for] the City of Nanaimo and theresa国际传媒檚 a friend whosa国际传媒檚 an RCMP officer sa国际传媒� so we had some muscle to help us get all the way up the road, but sa国际传媒� we did it. It was a huge undertaking, for sure. It was definitely the most physical rescue Isa国际传媒檝e ever been a part of.sa国际传媒�
Johnson said the sea lion was actually underweight. In spite of the Herculean efforts to save the animal, it died not long after it was placed in the transport carrier.
sa国际传媒淪adly, not the outcome we were looking for sa国际传媒� but with every response that we go on our team always learns something,sa国际传媒� she said.
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The sea lionsa国际传媒檚 body was driven to a pathology lab on the Lower Mainland where a necropsy will be conducted to try to determine the cause of death.
Johnson said there have been more frequent incidents of sea lions having been killed with firearms, but a radiograph conducted Thursday night didnsa国际传媒檛 reveal any projectiles or foreign bodies in the carcass.
sa国际传媒淭he strange thing about it is there were no obvious wounds and no injuries that we could seesa国际传媒a国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淗onestly, I really couldnsa国际传媒檛 even have a guess for you.sa国际传媒�
Johnson said she was impressed with the efforts people in Nanaimo put in to help save the animal.
sa国际传媒淲hat a great little community, though. I could tell everybody was very invested in helping,sa国际传媒� she said.
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