today i got my workout

I almost didn't post a photo of today's rescue. I usually try to spare you internet friends the uglier side of my hobby. In fact, this picture is actually not as gruesome as I thought it might be. If you didn't know this was an unnatural angle, you might just think he was being particularly vocal. Unfortunately, this sea lion's injury looks much worse in person... At least take comfort in knowing that by the time this photo was taken, he was full of enough Banamine and Butorphanol that he wasn't feeling a thing.

He'd been spotted by a surfer (who also happens to be my pet sitter) just a couple hours earlier. She reported him as skinny and small and on Morro Rock. She couldn't tell his jaw was broken from her spot in the surf line up, but she could see the rock he was resting on was fairly flat and accessible. For those who aren't from these parts, Morro Rock is the giant rock for which my town is named. It's massive and mostly surrounded by open ocean. Usually the animals we get from "the rock" are around or near the rock, or at least on the rocks by the rock. Very seldom are they actually "on" the rock. In fact, this is only the third time I've been out there in five years. It's not exactly fun, but it's always memorable.

Although we couldn't spot him from the parking lot, we figured it was worth the long dusty hike out to determine if he was still there. After all, what's a little poison oak between friends? Besides, only one part of the trail is truly scary - narrow and steep, you have to lean in towards the rock to keep from sliding into the ocean. And we knew we'd responded quickly. My rescue partner and I were both on the beach within fifteen minutes of the first call.

Once we got close enough to see his injury, we were so grateful we'd made the effort to find him. Pausing a moment to soak in the sadness of his situation, we quickly got on with the rescue. The netting was actually easy enough. He saw me coming the whole time; he just didn't feel like going anywhere. Carrying him out across the rocks and through the brush was the real challenge. The fact that he couldn't close his jaw didn't prevent him from trying to bite us. Maneuvering him safely would have been much more difficult if he were fully functioning.

At only 28.8 kg, Workout was extremely underweight. (For comparison, recall that Trolling, last week's skinny 2 year old, was considered emaciated at 37.4 kg...) I would say I'm grateful he didn't weigh more (after all, he was already a Workout), but I'm bummed to think his weight loss is indicative of the amount of time that's passed since he broke his jaw. It's not that we've never repaired a broken jaw, but fresh wounds are always better than old ones.

Though he may soon be headed for the big Rock in the sky, at least he won't have to starve to death to get there. And Butorphanol is a very good thing.