South American sea lions released and rescued in Brazil

Four South American sea lions (Arctocephalus australis) were released back into the ocean at Praia do Cassino in Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul. The animals, consisting of two males and two females, were rehabilitated by the Marine Animal Recovery Center (Cram) at the Federal University of Rio Grande (Furg) after being rescued from various beaches in the region.

One of the released sea lions was fitted with a GPS tracker to allow researchers to monitor its movements in the South Atlantic. This monitoring is part of an environmental requirement set by Ibama for seismic research conducted by the company TGS.

In a separate incident in Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, a weakened one-year-old male sea lion pup was rescued from Jaconé Beach. The animal was found in poor physical condition and was transported to the Rehabilitation and Depetrolization Center (CRD) in Maricá for medical care and potential future release.