(no subject)
letter that i typed (and kim korrected) and sent to the marine mammal center:
Hi,
Today, while stopped at Moss Landing to view the sea lions, my girlfriend and I saw an injured sea lion and were so distressed at the sight that we wanted to let you know about it.
We had parked in the lot adjacent to the public launch ramp and walked to the pier that connects to the sea lion-only dock on the north side of the Elkhorn Slough at the Highway 1 bridge, next to a restaurant.
Around 10:30am, a young sea lion came up out of the water with a very large (7") fishing lure caught in its neck. The lure had double treble hooks, with one of the hooks caught in the neck, about a quarter of an inch deep into the flesh. Attached to the lure was a long piece of heavy gauge monofilament fishing line, possibly over a hundred feet in length. It barked as though it was in pain, which then seemed to alarm and scatter into the water a few other sea lions. Then it, too, returned into the water, towards the sea lion pier, and we were unable to see it again after that, though the line was still trailing.
We are hoping that the line will be strong enough that if it does become tangled, the weakest link in the chain will be the hook in the flesh and the sea lion will be left with a nasty wound, rather than a life-threatening entanglement. Thank you in advance for your concern-we were both very upset about this.
Enclosed are links to photos of the sea lion:
(i'm not going to hotlink the photos here. while not graphic, they are a bit of a bring-down. i have standards, and posting animals in distress is not something i enjoy doing.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metalkpirate1day/3733706831/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metalkpirate1day/3733704115/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metalkpirate1day/3734500804/
Hi,
Today, while stopped at Moss Landing to view the sea lions, my girlfriend and I saw an injured sea lion and were so distressed at the sight that we wanted to let you know about it.
We had parked in the lot adjacent to the public launch ramp and walked to the pier that connects to the sea lion-only dock on the north side of the Elkhorn Slough at the Highway 1 bridge, next to a restaurant.
Around 10:30am, a young sea lion came up out of the water with a very large (7") fishing lure caught in its neck. The lure had double treble hooks, with one of the hooks caught in the neck, about a quarter of an inch deep into the flesh. Attached to the lure was a long piece of heavy gauge monofilament fishing line, possibly over a hundred feet in length. It barked as though it was in pain, which then seemed to alarm and scatter into the water a few other sea lions. Then it, too, returned into the water, towards the sea lion pier, and we were unable to see it again after that, though the line was still trailing.
We are hoping that the line will be strong enough that if it does become tangled, the weakest link in the chain will be the hook in the flesh and the sea lion will be left with a nasty wound, rather than a life-threatening entanglement. Thank you in advance for your concern-we were both very upset about this.
Enclosed are links to photos of the sea lion:
(i'm not going to hotlink the photos here. while not graphic, they are a bit of a bring-down. i have standards, and posting animals in distress is not something i enjoy doing.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metalkpirate1day/3733706831/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metalkpirate1day/3733704115/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metalkpirate1day/3734500804/