It’s a first in Canada.
A team from the Vancouver aquarium has successfully disentangled two wild sea-lions from deadly debris on the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island. The team says that to their knowledge its the first time wild sea-lions have been successfully tranquilized and then freed from debris.
Veterinarian Dr Martin Haulena, and a team from the acquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre MMRC) set out by boat to the Barkley-Clayoquot Sound region when they were told of the two animals and their predicament. In fact, the team spotted nine animals in distress in the area.
They were able to approach two afflicted California sea-lions, and then tranquilize them with syringe darts.
With the animals calmed, the team was able to remove thin plastic strapping from around their necks. The tough straps, used on fish boxes, had been cutting into the animals necks causing deep wounds and slowly choking them,
Dr Haulena was able to cut one strap free completely but scar tissue had formed over the other strap deep in the second sea-lion. He was able to slice that strap in several places to relieve the pressure, but could not remove it. However, he says the intervention certainly saved both animals from a “prolonged and very painful death”.
The effort was part of a long collaboration involving the Rescue Centre (MMRC), the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Parks Canada, and marine mammal consulting biologist Wendy Szaniszlo. They had been working towards creation of a safe and effective darting protocol and disentanglement techniques to save sea-lions. During that time different anasthetic methods and fine tune the techniques.
The disentanglement project is based on a recent study, funded by the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust. During a six-year period,their investigation gathered reports of 408 instances of sea lion entanglement. Researchers say entanglement of marine creatures in a variety of fishing gear and various plastic debris has a detrimental effect on already vulnerable populations and almost always leads to painful and premature death.
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