Sea lion pup stuck in fishing line had dozens of rocks in stomach, California group says

A 2-year-old sea lion found with a fishing line hooked around her neck and dozens of rocks in her stomach was released back to sea last week.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California, found Chomper the sea lion in July entangled in fishing line.

“Chomper was rescued off a buoy in Newport Beach. She was entangled in fishing line with a hook embedded around her neck,” the Pacific Marine Mammal Center said in a Tuesday news release. “Buoy rescues can not only be challenging because of the elements, but also the unpredictability of these wild animals.”

On July 10, Chomper weighed about 70 pounds and her entanglement wound was infected. The sea lion had surgery for her wound, but even afterward she wouldn’t eat fish.

Marine experts didn’t understand why Chomper wasn’t eating. After X-rays and other medical care, they discovered 24 rocks in the pit of her stomach, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center said.

It’s not uncommon for adult sea lions to eat rocks to help feel full, but younger pups typically eat rocks if they are having a hard time catching fish, doctors told the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

“The weight of the rocks in their stomach may help relieve the discomfort of feeling hungry,” the center said. “However, in the long term, ingesting rocks can result in severe weight loss if they are not vomited up and the sea lion doesn’t start successfully foraging for appropriate food.”

Over the next month, the center gave Chomper nutrients through a tube, and doctors gave her medicines to try to stimulate her appetite. The sea lion wasn’t getting any better, so the center decided she needed to have a risky surgery to remove the rocks.

“Invasive abdominal surgery in sea lions is not very safe because of their propensity for their incision sites to open up and/or get infected because of the way they drag their abdomen on the ground when walking,” Pacific Marine Mammal Center said. “The best and safest option to remove the rocks was via endoscopy- a procedure where a camera is passed from the mouth into the stomach and tools are used to grab the rock so they can be pulled out of the stomach through the mouth.”

Twelve of the 24 rocks were successfully removed on July 28, and Chomper was on her way to recovery. She vomited the other 12 rocks on her own.

It took until Aug. 3 for Chomper to eat on her own again, and she swallowed some fish, the center said.

“We didn’t realize what happened at first,” Michele Hunter, director of animal care at the center, said in the news release. “Her pen mate flung a fish her way and we all froze as she began sniffing the fish. She hadn’t shown any interest in nearly a month! As soon as she picked up the fish our team was so ecstatic! We quickly put together a bowl for her and after that there was no stopping her.”

Over the next three months, Chomper gained 45 pounds and became healthy. She was released into the wild again on Nov. 6, according to the center.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 7:50 PM with the headline "Sea lion pup stuck in fishing line had dozens of rocks in stomach, California group says."