Fur seal rescued off Vancouver Island dies

An emaciated, strandedfur seal, rescued last week off Vancouver Island, has died, saysthe Vancouver Aquarium.

The fur seal, whichis normally found near Mexico's Guadalupe Island off the coast of Baja, California, died early Wednesday, according to anaquariumveterinarian who was trying to nurse the animal back to health.

"He was looking better on Saturday, but (Tuesday)night he had a very quick gastrointestinal bleed," Dr. MartinHaulena,the aquarium'shead veterinarian, said in a statement.

• Sick and stranded fur seal under care of Vancouver Aquarium

"Unfortunately, it's a common complication for marine mammals that strand while experiencing near starvation."

The seal was rescued from a beach atPacific Rim National Park Reserve more than 2,000 kilometres from home by officers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada and a Vancouver Aquarium research associate.

The fur seal is listedas threatened in the U.S. though not so in Canada, because it's not typically found here.

Seal was lethargic

After its rescue, aquarium officials said the seal was lethargic, underweight and refusing food.

Still,Haulena said the rescue was worth the effort."Even if the odds of survival are slim, we're always going to do our best to try and save an animal's life.

"We're a rescue centre that's what we do," he said in the statement.

Haulena also noted that treating a threatened speciesgives staff a chance tolearn more for conservation efforts.

Last fall,thesealswere washing up sick and dead along the California coast at a rate eight times higher than normal, according to theU.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA).

Scientists there think warmer waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean may be behind the sealstrandings. An unusually warm mass of seawater stretching along much of the West Coast has affectedmarine life. Some species of fish, whichthefur seals consume, may have moved farther north than usual to avoid the warmer waters.