A Tangled Sea Lion Ghosted Its Rescuers for a Year, Then Lounged on a Boat Launch

A male California sea lion that turned up at Race Rocks with a thick industrial rubber band cutting into its neck, then swam off before anyone could help, is finally free of it. On Oct. 6, 2026, a team led by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society sedated the animal at the reserve off Metchosin, near Victoria, British Columbia, and removed the band.⁵⁴

The sea lion was first reported entangled at Race Rocks in October 2025. It did not stay in the area long enough for rescuers to reach it, and it was not seen again until the end of September 2026.⁵⁶

Dr. Martin Haulena, the society’s executive director and head veterinarian, said the team got to the animal before the band caused serious damage to its blood vessels, airway or nerves.³ The follow-up so far is simple and encouraging. “He has been spotted daily since the rescue,” the society said in a social media post quoted by Black Press.⁵

Waiting on the weather

When the sea lion reappeared, the Race Rocks Eco-Guardians spotted it. The Eco-Guardian program is run by Pearson College UWC, which manages the reserve, and the guardians began checking on the animal every day while the rescue team waited for weather good enough to make the trip.⁴⁶ Fisheries and Oceans Canada supplied vessels and drone support.⁵

The day itself did not go entirely to plan. Strong currents kept the team from using the usual jetty, so they landed on the opposite side of the island. The sea lion was resting high on the boat launch, and the team was careful not to spook it into the water.¹³

They sedated it with a dart gun, removed the band, took blood samples and attached flipper tags so the animal can be identified in the future. Then they reversed the sedation and watched it recover.⁵⁶ The trip also doubled as training for veterinarians from the United States.³

For something that had been cutting into a sea lion’s neck for at least a year, the band gave up with surprisingly little fuss. “The band came off very easily,” Haulena told CTV News. His overall review was brisk: “Very successful. Very happy.”³

The society described the culprit as a thick industrial rubber band.⁵ CTV News reported it was the kind used in crab traps.²

One sea lion out of hundreds

This was the team’s second rescue at Race Rocks in about three months. On Aug. 17, 2026, they removed a plastic packing band from another male California sea lion, a roughly 280-kg (617-lb) animal.⁵⁶

Packing bands are the usual problem. The society says about 60 percent of pinniped (seal and sea lion) disentanglements involve them.⁵⁶

Haulena also stressed that many entangled animals are never reached. He estimates that as many as 400 California and Steller sea lions in B.C. may be affected by marine debris at any given time. His team typically frees six to 10 a year.³

“We try and get out as much as we can,” he told CTV News.³