By KEIRA SANDERS
Staff Writer
In January 2022, a sea lion had been rescued from the median of a busy freeway in San Diego. It’s been in rehabilitation for a month and SeaWorld’s rescue team, along with veterinarians and NOAA, have now decided that the sea lion is ready and approved to go back to his home. He was successfully returned on February 10.
The sea lion had returned to the sea with two other animals that had been going through the same process as him and was estimated to be about 200 pounds.
California’s sea lion population has been growing, leading San Diego officials to try to balance the marine mammals’ needs with those of coastal visitors. It has closed some areas popular with tourists as part of its response.
The freeway location where the animal was rescued is about 4 miles from San Diego Bay. How it got to one of the city’s communities so far from the water isn’t clear. Though, SeaWorld has said that the animal had a long history of ending up in places it typically isn’t found in. In November, it was rescued near the San Diego International Airport on the bay. In December, it was spotted at Naval Base Point Loma, on the Mission Beach boardwalk, and near a deli adjacent to nearby Mission Bay, so the park doesn’t doubt that the sea lion will be found on land again.