Mike Aguilera / AP
A starving 8-month-old sea lion pup found sleeping in a dining booth at an upscale oceanside restaurant north of San Diego, California, on Thursday is getting some off-menu chow at a different table.
The female pup, which was severely underweight and dehydrated, was discovered at The Marine Room in La Jolla, famous for its water's edge location and waves slapping against the windows.
It's not clear how the sickly little sea lion, which weighed about 20 pounds — half of what she should weigh at her age — was able to get inside. The pup was taken to SeaWorld's Animal Rescue Center in San Diego, where experts started her on fluids and are dressing her left eye, which was being drained of fluids, the local CBS affiliate reported.
Mike Aguilera / AP
Experts said they are cautiously optimistic about her recovery.
The sea lion pup is part of a larger problem afflicting pinniped pups up and down the coast of California.
Pups have been washing ashore in record numbers due to abnormally warm Pacific waters and a lack of food sources for nursing mothers. The result has been a nonstop rescue effort as the malnourished pups come ashore, desperate for food as their mothers leave for longer periods of time to find prey that has become ever scarcer.
The Marine Mammal Center reported rescuing more than 1,800 marine mammals in 2015, breaking nearly every record in its 40-year history.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1RaxLdV
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