Wayward Highway 37 sea lion might have brain damage

A juvenile sea lion that blocked Highway 37 Monday when it tried to cross had previously been rescued and treated at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, a possible indication he has memory loss or other brain damage.

The sea lion, named School Daze, is once again in the care of the center in Sausalito, where he’s been treated for malnutrition, officials there said.

Since his last visit and subsequent January release off the Farallon Islands, he has been seen numerous times in the Bay Area, and has once again lost weight, in this case 13 pounds, the center said in an email.

His January release, so far from civilization, was intended to give him a better chance of surviving in the wild.

Researchers at the center suspect he could have been exposed to domoic acid in the sea while he was either in utero or while he was nursing. That’s the same neurotoxin that delayed the Dungeness crab fishing season this year.

He will get a full physical exam and, likely, eventually an MRI to assess the extent of his brain damage.

The center said that it is now caring for more than 80 young California sea lions - more than four times what they’re used to for this time of year.

A number of factors seem to be to blame for that, the center said.

More marine mammals tend to strand themselves during El Niño years because the ecosystem changes “affect fish populations and increase stress on animals,” the center said.