Community Corner
14 Seal Lions Released After Chlorine Attack
The Pacific Marine Mammal Center was able to treat and release 14 of the 17 seal lions injured in last month's chlorine attack today.
Fourteen of 17 sea lions injured in a chlorine attack at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center have been nursed back to health and were released back into the ocean in Laguna Beach today.
The remaining three need further nursing before they can head back home to the ocean, said Mary Beth Steen of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.
The healthy sea lions scampered into the sea after being turned loose on the beach and returned to the water.
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Someone slipped chlorine into a pool containing the sea lions on April 27. Authorities were still looking for suspects.
The attack came at a tough time for the center, which has been dealing with double the number of ailing sea lions washing ashore.
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“It was a huge setback for us, especially because those were our healthiest animals and they were, some of them were ready to be released that week,” Kristen Sedlick of the center told ABC7. “So it was a large setback for us. We were able to push through, keep them healthy and see today, and I couldn’t have asked for a better release.”
The center has rescued 472 sea lions this year, more than double the 225 average the center fields through May, Steen told City News Service. The center reaches capacity at 125 sea lions and they have reached that point for the past couple of months, Steen added.
Experts suspect that pollution of the sea lions’ habitat has caused many of the issues sickening the mammals and causing them to wash ashore.
Earlier this year, the center’s executive director, Keith Matassa, said some experts blame it on climate change, which creates a domino effect of problems.
City News Service
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