Sea Lion Pup Wanders the Streets of San Francisco

[Judi Lynn]

Sea Lion Pup Wanders the Streets of San Francisco
By TRAVIS FEDSCHUN
3 hours ago

A sea lion pup that wandered onto the streets of San Francisco early Thursday morning is now resting safe at a marine mammal rescue center.

A tourist first spotted the male sea lion under an SUV in San Francisco’s Marina District around 6:30 a.m., ABC News station KGO-TV reports.

It took rescue crews close to a half hour to eventually capture the animal, with aerial helicopter footage showing one rescue worker finally getting the sea lion into a net.

"Luckily the San Francisco Police Department had stopped traffic around him and was protecting him until we got there," Shawn Johnson with the Marine Mammal Center told KGO-TV.

After the sea lion was captured, workers with the Marine Mammal Center realized they’ve dealt with this particular seal once before.

More:
https://gma.yahoo.com/sea-lion-pup-wanders-streets-san-francisco-072356131--abc-news-topstories.html

[itsrobert]

1. Are Sea Lions trying to evolve into primary land animals?

Maybe this is a stage in a long evolutionary process.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Their food supply is rapidly disappearing, and a lot of the pups are coming ashore starving.

It's a heartbreaking problem.

That has been the situation in California.

[itsrobert]

3. Isn't the population of Sea Lions growing too rapidily

Their food supply is disappearing because they are overpopulating.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/04/sea_lion_boom_causing_big_prob.html

[Judi Lynn]

4. I've seen a lot of these stories: Starving sea lion pups inundate Southern California rescue centers

US | Tue Mar 17, 2015 3:17pm EDT
Related: U.S., Environment

Starving sea lion pups inundate Southern California rescue centers

San Diego | By Marty Graham


(Reuters) - Animal rescue centers in California are being inundated with stranded, starving sea lion pups, raising the possibility that the facilities could soon be overwhelmed, the federal agency coordinating the rescue said.

The precise cause is not clear, but scientists believe the sea lions are suffering from a scarcity of natural prey that forces nursing mothers to venture farther out to sea for food, leaving their young behind for longer periods.

"As facilities reach capacity, it will likely not be possible to rescue and rehabilitate every impacted animal," said Justin Viezbecke, stranding coordinator for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

This year, a record 1,450 starving pups have been rescued in Southern California.

Mary Beth Steen, director of development for the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, said the center has taken in 285 animals – 10 times last year's final tally of 28 and double the count for 2013.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/17/us-usa-california-sea-lions-iduskbn0md17220150317

[Nihil]

5. Their food supply is disappearing because HUMANS are over-populating, over-fishing, ...

... over polluting and overly focussed on short term greed.