Sea Lion shot in the face lives

Another heart wrenching story of good work done by the Marine Mammal Center. On December 8th, locals on Swede's Beach (a tiny cove in Sausalito where incidentally I used to live,) came across a listless and barely moving California sea lion. They called the Marine Mammal Center, who came to its rescue and found that it had been shot in the face with a shot gun. During the few weeks of his recovery the doctors at the center were impressed with the sea lion's stoic nature and apparent refusal to bark, naming him Silent Knight. Turns out that both Silent Knights eyes are ruined and that while he is slowly making a recovery -- he will never be able to be released into the wild again. From San Francisco Examiner:

"But now that the veterinary team has determined the animal is completely blind, the center has to try to find a zoo or aquarium for him since he is not suitable for re-entry to the wild, (center exec director Jeff) Boehm said...
"The challenge is, a lot of zoos and aquariums are filled to capacity," he said. "The match might not be immediately straightforward, but more and more zoos and aquariums are finding there's tremendous storytelling potential" in an animal like Silent Knight.
He is the ninth marine mammal to be treated for gunshot wounds at the Sausalito-based center this year. There were 19 gunshot victims treated there in 2009, center officials said.
Some people view sea lions and other marine mammals as nuisances to human seafaring, and they are sometimes shot by fishermen.
"His plight is something of interest, and stuns [visitors] when they find how cruel people can be," Boehm said.

Also running this week is an opportunity to have donations to the Marine Mammal Center matched. Apparently members of their board of directors are matching the next $10,000 in donations made.

Donate here.

Jason Weisberger is Boing Boing's publisher. He often does what he ought, instead of what he should. On instagram and twitter he is @jlw

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SpacelordMother

As a passionate fisherman and general wildlife nut…..this disgusts me beyond belief. “Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”…this person needs to be shot in the face and released into the wild.
SealLover

https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=510144434 Network for Good will allow you to use PayPay to make a donation to The Marine Mammal Center
Anonymous

Could the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson take him? They recently lost their polar bear- the exhibit area is outdoors, with a swimming area that is decently sized (although one wonders if it was large or cool enough for a polar bear in AZ).
- Anonymous
  
  I emailed the Reid Park Zoo with links to this page and the story on the Marine Mammal Center website.
Anonymous

With 300,000 California Sea Lions now on the West Coast, it is time to take about 30,000 per year and turn their blubber into seal oil biodiesel. It is a better solution than destroying dams to save the Salmon.
- cmaceachen
  
  @17, I don’t know the percentages for the entire West Coast, but for the Columbia River area, Sea Lions eat 4% of the salmon run, humans fish up to 17%, and 60% die because of all the dams. Sea lions are simply a scapegoat. Killing them has no effect on salmon numbers and the 9th circuit court of appeals agrees.
RobertBigelow

I voluntarily choose to separate myself from the kind of asshole that would shoot a sea lion the face with a shotgun by contributing towards funding for the care for the creature.
mdh

If you like your right to guns AND don’t like seeing sea lions shot in the face, then I’m afraid you’ll have to pay enough in taxes for the California Department of Fish and Game to have enough wardens to watch the fishermen.
Jason Weisberger

I pay my taxes and would be fine paying more if it stopped all poaching and unwarranted killing of marine life. I see people taking way more than the limit of abalone, for some reason stealing star fish and all kinds of weird things.

No one is trying to steal the local skunk tho.
- snack
  
  Jason, please use this anon tip number for the DFG if you see any poaching activity.
  1 888 DFG-CALTIP(888 334-2258).
  Im not usually inclined to advise tattle tailing on your fellow citizen, but DFG is horribly underfunded and stretched thin. On the flipside of this, please do make sure you are reporting something illegal, as not to waste scarce resources.
  And to the scum that did this, Im a fisherman, and you have an open invitation on my boat for a little shark viewing excursion to the Farralones. No need to bring chum, chum, I have something in mind….
pidg

*shakes fist* You may have won this time, sea lion, but I will have my vengeance!

(DISCLAIMER: I did not really shoot that lovely creature in the face.)
murray

To the person who did this: I hate you.
- doggo
  
  I agree. I hate him too.
  
  Makes ya wanna get all Biblical on him (eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, not that other kind of “biblical”).
  
  What kind of person shoots a sea lion in the face? If this was someone I knew, I’d beat shit out of him, turn him in for cruelty to animals, and never associate with him again.
  - cmaceachen
    
    “What kind of person shoots a sea lion in the face?”
    
    Fishermen looking for someone to blame for their own over-fishing and the negative effects of dams on salmon populations. Even though the amount of fish eaten by seals and sea lions is minuscule compared to the amount fished commercially and the number that never make it to spawning grounds due to dams, many have been killed or trapped and removed in the lower Columbia river (between Washington and Oregon) over the last few years. A recent court decision put a likely temporary stop the “legal” actions, but that won’t do much to deter angry fishermen from taking matters into their own hands.
Anonymous

All the responsible hunters I know take great importance in the notion of a clean kill. None of them wants to see an animal they take down suffer.

That being said, this wasn’t a hunted animal. It looks like some sicko with ulterior motives as others have explained. What I don’t get is, if you’re able to shot an animal like this one once, why can’t you take a 2nd shot and at least put it out of it’s misery? A slug instead of buckshot would’ve done the trick.

This is just plain cruel.
SonOfSamSeaborn

Twats. I eat fish so I can’t take the absolute high ground here but the fuckers could have at least ensured he was dead quickly if they felt they had to shoot him at all. I’m glad he’s being looked after.
Anonymous

“His plight is something of interest, and stuns [visitors] when they find how cruel people can be,” Boehm said.

How is this stunning anymore?
penguinchris

I support dealing justice to whoever shot it, but from an economic perspective I question spending tens of thousands of dollars to keep it alive. Cute as it may be, what makes this non-endangered animal worth that much?
Anonymous

If I was Tony Stark, I would fit this little fella with bionic eyes, lasers and mini-torpedoes and send him on his way to seek his well-deserved revenge.
travtastic

The Rhino Wars: Zimbabwe Is Shooting Poachers Who Menace the Rare Black Rhino
- Anonymous
  
  That is ridiculously awesome travtastic.
Anonymous

Living utterly blind in a world of only water…

The thought sends shivers down my spine. Perhaps only because I am terrestrial?

~D. Walker
Anonymous

Jason Weisberger schooled Genghis Khan!
Anonymous

Seriously disgusting that anyone would do this… –nick
adamnvillani

I know some fishermen who say that the issue with sea lions vs. fishermen for them is not that they blame the sea lions for overfishing, but that the sea lions will come up and snatch fish that the fishermen had caught, like right off of the line.

None of that, of course, excuses the scumbag who did this. Personally I love marine mammals, but even if they were bugging me that’s no excuse to shoot them.
snack

Sorry the anon number is 1 888 DFG-CALTIP(888 334-2258)
mreddy1

can’t blame it on lag now, can you?
bklynchris

Would you please beg them to add a paypal option! I love pinnipeds but cannot deal with finding my wallet, taking out the card, and punching #’s in.
Hayduke

“If I was Tony Stark, I would fit this little fella with bionic eyes, lasers and mini-torpedoes and send him on his way to seek his well-deserved revenge.”

I don’t think you can use ordinary lasers for a sea creature. I’m pretty sure they have to be frickin’ lasers.
TheMostHorrible

PORTLAND ZOO! We had a blind sea lion here for years, and it just recently died. Seems like a no-brainer.
Anonymous

The DFG already caught the perpetrator Saw it on Wild Justice on NATGEO channel.