A sea lion with a dangerous plastic ring wrapped around its neck has been rescued in a dramatic operation.
The feminine Steller’s sea lion, a protected species, was spotted snarled within the plastic loop near the port town of Nevelsk on Russia’s Sakhalin Island.
Photos show the animal resting on a breakwater rock alongside other sea lions as a rescue boat carrying a team of specialists approaches.
For the primary time, environmentalists were allowed to make use of distant anesthesia to subdue the ocean lion, using medication provided by the regional Ministry of Health.
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Rescue group “Friends of the Ocean” approached the breakwater and fired a dart on the animal.
The rescuers then rigorously made their way across the rocks before removing the plastic ring, ending the ocean lion’s ordeal.
The ring had cut deeply into the ocean lion’s flesh, leaving a severe wound that rescuers feared would worsen if it was not removed.
Rescuers administered a second medication to reverse the anesthesia, and monitored her until she regained consciousness.
The successful rescue took place on a breakwater near Nevelsk, on the southwest coast of Sakhalin Island.
It’s certainly one of the one places on the earth where Steller sea lions gather directly in a town port, with tons of of the animals often packed together.
But the realm has turn into polluted by marine debris which might pose a serious risk to the animals’ safety.
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