Baxter

Avid kayaker Charles Foster was used to seeing sea lions resting on the Redondo Beach barge during his weekly paddles. He’d see them in large groups, squabbling loudly with each other as they jockeyed for prime sunning spots.

But then the barge was empty for months following the summer’s big domoic acid bloom that affected hundreds of sea lions in the area. Until finally in early December, he spotted a lone sea lion. He was excited to see that a sea lion had returned until he got closer and noticed that her head was stuck in a gill net and the fishing line was wrapped tightly around her neck.

Unsure who could help, Charles recalled that his wife had seen the Marine Mammal Care Center release sea lions at Cabrillo Beach while working there as a lifeguard. So he called our rescue line at 1-800-39-WHALE and reported what he had seen.

As a thank you for Charles’ advocacy, he was asked to name the young sea lion. He suggested “Baxter” in honor of his beloved Jack Russell terrier that had passed away earlier in the year.

The Center’s experts made multiple rescue attempts over the course of several weeks. As you might expect, the situation was dire: One-year-old Baxter was growing rapidly, and the gill net was getting tighter by the day.

Although the thin, plastic line was starting to cut into her skin, Baxter was still strong enough to evade rescue. Because she continued to haul-out on the barge in the middle of the water, each rescue attempt required our experts to secure a boat operator willing to help. Finally the rescue was successful, and Baxter was brought to our hospital for treatment.

After carefully removing the fishing line, the Center’s veterinary team wrapped Baxter’s neck wound in bandages and gave her the supportive care needed to aid in recovery. Within a month, Baxter’s neck had healed enough for her to return to the wild.

The next time Charles went out paddling, the barge was empty. “I could have been sad,” he said, “but knowing she had been rescued, it was a really happy sight.”

Inspired by Baxter’s story, Charles began training to become an animal care volunteer at the Marine Mammal Care Center so that he could provide hands-on support to the next animal in need.