SAN FRANCISCO — The sea lion was lying on a rock near the shore at Crissy Field, looking exhausted. A green fishing lure stuck out of its bottom lip, and a row of ribs showed when it breathed.
It didn't put up a fight when two volunteers from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito approached it from behind and threw a net over its head. The volunteers nudged the sea lion into a dog kennel, carried it off the rocks and took it to Sausalito for treatment.
The center, which has at least three volunteers on call every day, has struggled to keep up with the number of distressed sea lions in the Bay Area.
Most are malnourished, some are injured. It has taken in almost three times as many as usual for this point in the year, said center spokesman Jim Oswald. On Monday, it was housing 93.
It's not alone. Most rescue centers on California's coast are treating a record number of sea lions this summer.
"We're loaded with sea lions right now," said Dr. Richard Evans, medical director of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach. "Normally, we spend $30,000 on food per year. This year, we've already spent $48,000."
The distressed animals generally fit the same profile. They're young sea lions who can't find enough food in waters where squid, anchovies and sardines are usually plentiful. They climb out of the ocean, exhausted. Volunteer crews find them stranded on beaches and piers, and occasionally wandering on the freeway.
Marjorie Boor, who has rescued more than 100 sea lions in her four years as a volunteer, recently helped save one on Interstate 880 in Oakland just before morning rush hour traffic began.
"The policeman opened the cruiser, and he jumped right in," she said. "It could have been a disaster."
Scientists think El Nino could be responsible. The El Nino weather pattern brings warm water currents to the California coast about every five years.
Fish follow colder currents farther out into the ocean, depleting the sea lions' food supply near the coast. Young sea lions tend to be more affected because they are not experienced hunters.
Scientists on Thursday announced the arrival of El Nino in the tropical Pacific Ocean, but a complete transition has not occurred off California, said Joe Cordaro, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.
El Nino conditions usually last for about 12 months, he said.
