That customer sleeping in a booth at the iconic La Jolla seaside Marine Room restaurant on Feb. 4 was a sea lion pup, and a rescue team from SeaWorld San Diego found that she was malnourished.
According to park officials, restaurant management wasn’t sure how she got into the eatery that’s famous for ocean waves slapping against its dining room window.
During an examination at the theme park, it was discovered the estimated 8-month-old marine mammal weighed just 20 pounds – half of what she should weigh.
Animal care staff started her on fluids. The pup’s left eye also is shut and has drainage.
Conditions in the Pacific Ocean, with dwindling food supplies and unusually high tides, have led to 40 rescues of sea lions by SeaWorld since the first of the year, along with six harbor seals and one Guadalupe fur seal.
Park rescue teams brought in more than a thousand marine mammals last year, officials said. – City News Service