Sea lion rescued from plastic rope digging into her neck

March 21 (UPI) -- Wildlife rescuers in British Columbia shared video from the rescue of a sea lion found entangled in plastic rope off the Vancouver Island coast.

The Vancouver Aquarium said members of its Marine Mammal Rescue Center responded Saturday to a location where a female stellar sea lion had been reported with a plastic rope wrapped around her neck.

The video shows the team locate the sea lion and note that the plastic rope was cutting deep into her skin.

"The problem of plastic pollution in our oceans is becoming a crisis, and it's one that we all need to take more seriously in our daily lives," Vancouver Aquarium Head Veterinarian Martin Haulena said. "From debris that causes entanglement of marine mammals like these, to smaller plastics that get ingested by fish and animals at the bottom of the food chain, our single-use plastic waste is having a huge impact."

The sea lion was tranquilized with a dart before the rescue team approached and disentangled her from the rope.

Haulena said the rope is being analyzed to try to determine where it came from.