British ColumbiaA female sea lion has been freed from a severe neck entanglement, thanks to crews that responded to the distressed mammal. Crews say the dramatic rescue capped off weeks of searching for the entangled animal Claire Palmer · CBC News · Posted: Dec 13, 2025 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Crews in Cowichan Bay rescue a female stellar sea lion, who was entangled for weeks. (DFO )A female sea lion near Cowichan Bay off of Vancouver Island’s east coast has been freed from a severe neck entanglement, thanks to crews that responded to the distressed mammal. The sea lion, later named Stl’eluqum by the Cowichan Tribes, was first sighted on Nov. 7 with orange twine wrapped so tightly around her neck that it was causing incisions.The sighting and subsequent reporting kicked off a weeks-long mission by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society (VAMMR) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Using several boats and a drone, crews located and darted the sea lion earlier this week, and ultimately freed her.WATCH | Sea lion freed from rope:Crews rescue entangled sea lion in B.C.’s Cowichan BayCrews rescued an entangled sea lion in B.C.’s Cowichan Bay on Thursday. It was part of a weeklong operation to locate and free the animal. Officials are worried these kinds of entanglements are becoming more common, as more marine wildlife in the Salish Sea means more contact with human debris.Dr. Martin Haulena, head veterinarian and executive director of VAMMR, headed up the mission, which collaborated with Cowichan Tribes and citizen observers who were posting their sightings of the seal to Facebook. Without their intervention, Haulena says, it would have been unlikely for the seal to survive much longer — which made the situation even more dire, as steller sea lions are a Species of Special Concern, under the Species at Risk Act. Haulena estimates that hundreds of marine animals are entangled in B.C. at any given moment, and says his team has rescued about 40 since they first started these rescue missions back in 2014. “[It’s] a drop in the bucket, unfortunately,” he said. “Of course, when you do [succeed], it’s dramatic and awesome, and everyone feels great. But certainly preventing things on the front end would be the real way to go.”The sea lion, seen here with orange rope entangled around her neck, was freed in early December. (DFO )The issue of marine mammal entanglements isn’t unique to B.C., or Canada, says Paul Cottrell, a DFO disentanglement expert. And because the animals travel freely and often long distances, it will take an international effort to curb the number of entanglements seen each year, he says.One of the primary types of debris that causes entanglements is packing bands from things like bait boxes, Cottrell says.”There’s work going on around the world on how to make those more biodegradable, because once the sea lion gets a packing band around the neck, it doesn’t degrade, it eats into the animal’s neck, and it’s awful,” he said. Both Cottrell and Haulena give credit for the dramatic rescue to the work of Cowichan Tribes, who helped in the efforts, as well as the public reporting line that initially tipped them off.Any operator of a vessel or fishing gear involved in accidental contact with a marine mammal is required by law to immediately notify DFO of the incident, and any member of the public who sees a marine animal in distresses is encouraged to call the 24 hour hotline at 1-800-465-4336. ABOUT THE AUTHORClaire Palmer is a video journalist in Nanaimo. Originally from Ontario, she spent three years in Golden, B.C., before joining CBC. You can contact her at claire.palmer@cbc.ca
Crews rescue entangled sea lion in Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Bay
