San Diego

Rescue Planned for Large Sea Lion With Apparent Stab Wound

A sea lion with a "vicious" wound has been appearing at a Ventura County marina over the weekend, concerning some people who have seen it.

The large male sea lion first appeared at Oxnard's Peninsula Yacht Marina as late as Saturday, according to people in the marina, and has been coming and going since then. It appears to be stabbed with "a hook-shaped thing that's duct taped to a handle," according to boater Kenny Knoll, who sent pictures of the animal to NBC4.

"The wound is pretty vicious when you see it," said Knoll, who has seen it for the last three or four days.

NBC4 cameras captured  the sea lion at the marina late Monday night — injured, but very much alive.

Knoll said he's appalled that someone would hurt the sea lion.

"This was a malicious attack. It's unfair to him," he said. "If a human caused this a human should help rectify the situation."

A representative of the Channel Islands Harbor Patrol said they were made aware of the situation by a marine mammal rescue group, which would be picking up the sea lion, which could weigh around 600 pounds, Tuesday.

Messages left with the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute were not immediately returned.

A crew from the rescue group came to the harbor as soon as the wounded animal was reported Saturday night, but was unable to help it without the help of trained professionals, according to Peninsula Yacht Marina office manager Gary Auberry.

"We've had a couple of calls and concerned people and rightly so," Auberry said, but rescuers need to make sure that they and the animal are safe when they capture it.

Auberry said he was told a crew from SeaWorld San Diego was coming to safely tranquilize the sea lion, they would have come sooner, he said, but were tied up in wildlife rescue in nearby Santa Barbara County, where an oil spill endangered sea life.

"We're hoping they can tranquilize him, we guess," said Lori Volk. "Try and see if they can get that gaff out of him. I don't know how they're going to do it."

Neighbors said they are waiting for the sea lion to return so rescuers can scoop him up and assess his chance for recovery.

"They have people coming to investigate, too. Really horrifying for us. Been in this harbor 30 years and I've never seen this before," Volk said.

"I'm just so sad. We just want to get him some help," she said. "We just want to get it some help. We know it's coming. We just have to be patient."

Knoll said that he's frustrated at how long the sea lion has been left to suffer, as are others at the marina, where Knoll, a New Jersey resident, has stayed with his sailboat.

"People here realize that with the oil spill ... there's a lot going on, but it seems like they come, they look at him, and then they leave," Knoll said.

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