A sea lion with a dangerous plastic ring wrapped around its neck has been rescued in a dramatic operation. The female Steller’s sea lion, a protected species, was spotted tangled up in the plastic loop near the port town of Nevelsk on Russia’s Sakhalin Island.
Photos show the animal resting on a breakwater rock alongside other sea lions as a rescue boat carrying a team of specialists approaches. For the first time, environmentalists were allowed to use remote anesthesia to subdue the sea lion, using medication provided by the regional Ministry of Health.
Rescue group “Friends of the Ocean” approached the breakwater and fired a dart at the animal. The rescuers then carefully made their way across the rocks before removing the plastic ring, ending the sea lion’s ordeal. The ring had cut deeply into the sea lion’s flesh, leaving a severe wound that rescuers feared would worsen if it was not removed.
Rescuers administered a second medication to reverse the anesthesia, and monitored her until she regained consciousness. The successful rescue took place on a breakwater near Nevelsk, on the southwest coast of Sakhalin Island. It’s one of the only places in the world where Steller sea lions gather directly in a town port, with hundreds of the animals often packed together. But the area has become polluted by marine debris which can pose a serious risk to the animals’ safety.
