WARNING: Graphic Photos below.
We spent the day in San Francisco today, and I planned a nice little post about the beauty of North Beach. The only problem is, that we wound up down at Pier 39 after a wonderful lunch and afternoon in the City’s Italian neighborhoods. And at Pier 39, as I usually do, I wandered over to have a look at how many sea lions were out sunning themselves on the docks.
I took the following photos and did not see what was there until I got home and put them up on the computer screen.
If you cannot stomach hurt animals, go no further and click off this post, and do not look at the photos.
This sea lion had been prone when I first started taking photos, but then sat up and stretched into the position shown, and stayed like that as long as I was there, with his neck held up.
The following photo shows you how smooth and sleek a sea lion’s neck is without a noose around it.
When I saw what I had in those first two photos, I googled the San Francisco Marine Mammal Center, and spoke with one of their staff to report this. I was told they had tried to rescue what they think might be this same sea lion last week, but were unsuccessful. They will go out again tomorrow, Monday. I e-mailed them the two photos to help them identify the animal.
All I can think of is that this animal is suffering. He may have gotten caught in fish netting, or rope thrown overboard, or rope that broke loose, from one of the boats in the bay. It may be something someone carelessly threw into the water.
AngelineM's Blog 
Truly tragic… He looks so much in pain…. As for the trash tossing family, I wish Stephen had said something to them… Ridiculous! 😦
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It is so sad to see this kind of thing, and that people can be so clueless, or uncaring.
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Poor little lion! A couple of puppies were killed like this when i was a kid… I guess some other kids thought that the puppies should have collars so they put rubber bands instead. Sad end to my childhood trauma, hopefully this survivor will allow the help the poor thing needs… and soon! We need all of the seals we can get back up on the piers. It seems very quiet down there lately.
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I haven’t heard anything back, I need to email the Marine Mammal Center to see if they can give me an update. The piers were half empty on Sunday; it was quiet. Thanks for stoppping in to leave a comment.
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One would think that they could dart em or something. Maybe it has been playing hide and seek with the MMC. Those guys are the best and that is where it will eventually go for recovery and removal of the band. I wish little guy gets help before he starves to death or drowns. Hopefully he is not growing still! 😦 poor little one! By the way… good job on knowing who to contact early on! bravo!
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That’s exactly what I thought, dart with tranquilizer to nab him. I’m emailing this morning, and will put a comment/follow up if they reply…..Have to love Google for finding what you need at your finger tips.
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Have to love people smart enough to use it! 🙂
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🙂 Thanks! And, BTW… hope you see this…I had a response back from my e-mail to the MMC; they did not capture our friend in need, but are on the lookout for him/her. They said the photos actually help them find the mammal they are looking for, so I’m glad I sent them the photo. And I pray they find it.
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That is awesome! It feels good to help the wild critters in the world! Now think. you personally have a wonderful seal/san francisco memory that i doubt you will soon forget! Good doin!
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That doesn’t look good Angeline 😦 Hope they get to him fast.
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I haven’t heard anything back from the mammal center. I can only hope they did get him.
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A few weeks ago I was taking pics along the Embarcadero and I saw a tourist family sitting on a waterside bench eating fast food out of a bag. They finished, packed all of the wrappers and plastic crap into the bag, which they then promptly tossed into the bay, despite the fact they were sitting right next to a trash container.
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This gets my blood boiling! Before yesterday, I may not have confronted them….today I’d start yelling at them.
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You should have tossed the family into the bay. No, wait: Into the trash container.
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They should be!
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It’s a terrible thing to see.
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It is terrible. I so hope that they are able to catch him and take that noose off its neck. It looks so tight.
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The Marine Mammel Center has actually been trying to capture this poor guy for the past month and every time they try to get close he slips under the water and disappears. It’s heartbreaking.
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The staff I spoke to at the center seemed to know his coloring all right. I so hope they can nab him to try to get this off of his neck. It makes me sick to see this. Has the story been in the Chron?
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I first saw this story on a KTVU news broadcast about three weeks ago. I can’t handle seeing pics or hearing stories of animals suffering or victims of abuse.
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It is terribly sad to see. I think that more awareness needs to be emphasized on keeping trash out of the bay, exactly for this reason.
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