An injured sea lion lifted herself out of San Francisco Bay, got herself across the eight lanes of freeway traffic, and headed toward downtown Burlingame. Motorists alerted the authorities, who, according to the San Francisco Gate(www.sfgate.com) waited with the animal until staff from the Marine Mammal Center arrived, whereupon she was brought to the Sausalito center for treatment. Veterinarians discovered a week-old gunshot wound to her jaw. However, disorientation from the gunshot wound may not be the reason why the sea lion crossed the freeway. Veterinarians believe that perhaps the sea lion may have eaten fish that had ingested a toxic algae, and that may have been the cause of her disorientation. Test results will either verify or disprove this theory.
Growing up in California, I became an avid animal lover. I loved watching these wonderful animal sunbath on the piers or perform during animal shows at the San Diego Zoo. I have a certain soft stop for these particular animals. Therefore, reading this article gave me a variety of emotions. I was both sad and angry and by the end of the article, I was relieved.
The Marine Mammal Center admitted nine sea lions with gunshot wounds, in 2010. Earlier this year, Santa Cruz Wharf attempted to rescue another with a gun shot wound, only to have it pass away from its injuries. According to the article, fishermen compete with the sea lions for fish and illegally shoot at sea lions to keep them away from their nets. I think this is horrible. It saddens me to think that there are people who don’t value nature and its wild life. They see only profit and forget how valuable and precious nature is. I have to wonder how many fish the sea lions can really be taking in order to validate the fishermen’s need to massacre them? Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to find out who is shooting this protected species. There has to be a better way to chase the sea lions away from the fishing nets. With all the technological advancements that we have made within the last 20 years, one would think that someone could invent something that would help.
Fortunately, the sea lion is currently sharing a pen with two other sea lions. Although she appears fatigued, her recovery looks positive. I hope for the best for this amazing creature.
That story is incredible. I could hardly imagine an animal crossing a busy road like that, then to know that it survived a gun shot wound on top of that is just mind blowing. I also share a love of animals and found this really interesting. Very terrible fisherman do that, seriously heartless. Loved reading this story.
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