Concern grows as sea lion repeatedly wanders onto Vancouver Island highway

The first time a California sea lion was spotted in the middle of Highway 4, between Port Alberni and Ucluelet on Dec. 29, it was a curiosity.

But since then, the animal has ended up on the highway several more times, wandering in and out of nearby Kennedy Lake, connected to the ocean by the Kennedy River.

“It’s really dangerous,” said Paul Cottrell with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. “You can imagine a 300-pound dark animal on a highway. And the animal has been coming out of the water at nighttime on Friday and Saturday.”

On Sunday, a Vancouver Aquarium marine mammal rescue team was dispatched to the area to try to find and sedate the wayward pinniped.

“This highway is foggy and rainy and a poor visual situation. So it's something that we definitely want to avoid, and have been doing our best. It's just been kind of cat-and-mouse to time the team when the animal is there,” said Cottrell.

The aquarium’s head veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena believes the animal may have neurological problems.

“There's a possibility that he might be lost and he’s a young sea lion trying to find his way back. But normally, a sea lion would want to use the waterways and he should know how he got there, so he should be able to retrace steps to get back,” said Haulena, adding how a healthy sea lion wouldn’t usually go near a busy highway, let alone sit in the middle of it.

“I'm a little bit worried that he does have something more complicated going on. And I guess the only real way to figure that out is to get a hold of him, bring him back to our rescue facility and really spend some time on diagnostics,” Haulena said.

At the very least, the saltwater sea lion is likely struggling to find food in the freshwater lake.

“There is indication the body condition is deteriorating over time. There's likely not a lot of prey for the animal in Kennedy Lake,” said Cottrell.

The sea lion was last spotted near the lake on Saturday, and it is possible it has made its way back to the ocean since then. But crews remain on the look out.

“The plan right now is to have our folks hanging out as long as possible,” said Haulena.

“I can't say enough how concerned I am about human safety, as well as the safety of the animal.”