By Kate Hruby, Communication and Education Coordinator
The Response Team guides the sea lion from the water line into a carrier.
Our first patient of the year was an adult California sea lion who stranded on a beach just north of the Rescue Center. Unfortunately, he did not survive, and a necropsy later confirmed that cancer had spread throughout his body.
The sea lion shortly after he arrived at the Rescue Center.
Urogenital cancer is a rising concern for California sea lions, and SR3 has observed it in previous patients as well. In California, The Marine Mammal Center found that around 20% of the adult California sea lions they necropsied in past decades had urogenital cancer.
The community truly came together to get this animal to the hospital, and we are grateful to everyone who called him in to local responders, lent hands to lift his carrier into our transport vehicle, and saved the marine mammal response number to their phones. The knowledge learned from this individual will continue to inform our understanding of California sea lions, as well as our practices to respond to and care for any in need.