Sea lion rescued after being found weak and emaciated on Campbell River beach

A young male sea lion was rescued on Tuesday after people spotted it looking weak and emaciated on a beach at Willow Point in Campbell River.

The California sea lion had spent several days on the beach when he was spotted, Lindsay Akehurst, manager of the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Centre said in a news release.

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“We do see a large number of male California sea lions arriving in our area at this time of year,” but she said it’s unusual to see one spend so long on a beach with human activity.

A rescue centre team working with staff from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) decided that the animal should be taken in for treatment.

The sea lion was then taken to the rescue centre in Vancouver on Tuesday.

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The marine mammal’s age was estimated at anywhere between three and four years old because he had a small sagittal crest, which is a part of the animal’s skull.

A veterinary team determined that the sea lion was emaciated and dehydrated; he weighed only 100 kilograms (220 pounds) — very skinny for his age.

The team found that he had pneumonia in his lungs, a fracture to his left hind flipper and signs in his blood that were consistent with “renal changes,” the news release said.

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His condition suggested that he had experienced malnutrition for some time, Dr. Martin Haulena, the aquarium’s head veterinarian, said in a statement.

He’s receiving medicine, fluids and “supportive therapy.”

The range of the California sea lion stretches from central Mexico, up along the west coast of North America up to B.C., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Subadult and adult males are known to migrate along the Oregon coast from September to October, to Washington state in December and British Columbia in January and February.

They’re known to return south in the spring, heading down to areas such as southern California and Baja California.