Wounded sea lion wanders to Sutter
A sea lion believed to be the same one wounded by an angry fisherman on the Sacramento River last month was sighted Friday swimming around the Highway 113 bridge at Knights Landing in southwest Sutter County.
Crews from the Sutter County Sheriff's Department and the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito tried in vain to capture the young male sea lion, which has a head wound animal experts believe is significantly hurting it.
The sea lion was last seen headed north on the river, catching fish along the way, before crews decided to quit for the evening.
"We're fighting daylight here," said Shelbi Stoudt, stranding manager with the mammal center, which is trying to capture the animal to nurse it back to health. "We're putting feelers out with the locals here and they'll let us know tomorrow when they see something."
Investigators said a sea lion since nicknamed both "Sammy" and "Brutus" was wounded on Nov. 11 by Larry Allan Legans, 43, of North Highlands, when Legans said the 400-pound animal was stealing fish from his line.
Investigators said the shooting happened on the Sacramento River near Verona in south Sutter County; Legans has since been arrested on three misdemeanor charges over the shooting.
Stoudt said the sea lion dropped out of view until a few days before Thanksgiving, when experts believe it showed up at Pier 39 in San Francisco, then in Clarksburg earlier this week.
Marine mammal experts believe the animal is suffering and needs medical treatment, though it could be seen diving for food Friday evening.
"If we can let him rest, it'll give us a chance to let him forget about it for a little bit," said Stoudt, who worked from shore with a sheriff's department patrol boat to track the mammal.
While the sea lion was around the bridge, it attracted a host of watchers and TV reporters who gathered at the StingRayz Marina in Knights Landing to follow its progress.
Craig Hooper, 46, said he'd joked with friends Thursday evening about the sea lion showing up at the marina the next day.
"And it was lying on the shore bed this morning," said Hooper of Knights Landing.
Another area resident, Jerry Dickerson, said sea lion sightings aren't common along the river, but they're not unusual either.
"Everybody knows if you see them, pull your lines in because you're not getting fish that day," said Dickerson, 47. "He's just following the salmon, like any sea lion would."
Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandermeer@ appealdemocrat.com.
