[caption id="attachment_81323" align="aligncenter" width="576"] One of the sea lions. Credit: Vancouver Aquarium[/caption]

Fanny Bay, Vancouver Island - When a team of professionals from Vancouver Aquarium rescued two sea lions trapped amid debris this past October, they cautioned that dozens more remained at risk of being similarly ensnared. As it turns out, the team was well aware of what they were talking about.

Yet again, a team of professionals made their way out to the favorite haunts of the sea lions to rescue the one called "Kiyo" by an adoring public demanding the mammal be freed from the wire wrapped about its neck.

In raw HD footage, the small tugboat like vessels made their way across the bay to the archipelagos where the sea lions tend to bask. From a safe distance, one man loaded his tranquilizer rifle and nailed his target.

At that point, the three person team consisting of two women and one man plus the camera person drew up to Kiyo to begin the careful process of extricating the lengthy wire from about his fleshy neck. One man carefully swabbed the area around the wire to disinfect it.

The swab quickly became blood soaked indicating that the wire had bored into the skin. The wire, called a packing strap, was removed from the sea lion. However, in all candor, the team could not conclude that the sea lion they rescued was Kiyo.

One member of the team explained that packing strap wire is the most common object they have to extricate from sea lions. Their triage includes tagging the mammal, taking blood samples for further analysis, and injecting it with antibiotic. It is expected to recover quickly.

[caption id="attachment_81321" align="aligncenter" width="576"] trapped sea lion[/caption]

Source:
KIYO SEA LION RESCUED BY VANCOUVER AQUARIUM
http://on.aol.com/video/kiyo-sea-lion-rescued-by-vancouver-aquarium-518155432