B.C. rescuers free severely entangled sea lion [Video]

Rescuers with the Vancouver Aquarium freed a sea lion last week from what they say was one of the worst entanglements they’ve ever encountered.

The adult male California sea lion was first spotted Oct. 20 in the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and was rescued last Tuesday.

It had a gillnet wrapped tightly around its muzzle, neck and inside its mouth, which severely injured the animal and prevented it from eating, the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society says.

“Just 48 hours after the initial sighting, a plan was in place to save the animal, whose health was quickly deteriorating due to malnutrition and the severity of the entanglement,” reads a media release about the rescue issued Tuesday.

The VAMMR’s head veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena first sedated the sea lion using a dart, and then a drone tracked its movements so the team could …