New Orleans zoo caring for 2 injured sea lions rescued from LA coast

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Sunday, December 2, 2018
2 sea lions with eye injuries rescued from LA coast
A young sea lion with a bullet in her brain and another with cataracts in both eyes were rescued from the SoCal coast and have found a new home in New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS (KABC) -- A pair of visually impaired sea lions rescued from the Southern California coastline have a new home at a New Orleans zoo.

Ayah and Jolee were both malnourished when they were rescued in June.

Ayah - which means "miracle" in Arabic - was found off the Malibu coast.

Jolee - French for "beautiful" - was found on a jetty in El Segundo suffering from malnourishment and injuries.

Jolee has cataracts in both eyes. She gets around by following Ayah, who lost her left eye from a bullet in her brain. Ayah can still see with her right eye and suffered no brain damage from the small-caliber bullet.

Both sea lions were nursed back to health at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro.

The zoo says the 2-year-old females are adjusting well to their new homes and are getting along with the facility's four other sea lions.