Sea Lion Died From Infection Banned At Locks, Hondo Shipped To Sea World

Hondo the sea lion managed to dodge a death sentence, escape from exile and survive stints in captivity - once even breaking through a chain link fence toward freedom and the fish he loved.

But his fighting spirit gave out Monday in a pool at Florida’s Sea World.

Hondo, the largest of three steelhead-eating sea lions transferred from Seattle’s Ballard Locks to Orlando’s Sea World in May, was found dead in Sea World’s Pacific Point Preserve exhibit early Monday. Preliminary reports from the necropsy, or animal autopsy, showed that Hondo had an infection that traveled through his bloodstream, said Becca Bides, Sea World spokeswoman.

She said veterinarians hoped to identify the cause of the infection in six weeks, when the necropsy results are complete.

Mitchell Fox, spokesman for the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), which opposes the killing or transfer of sea lions from the Ballard Locks, said Hondo’s death “was not unexpected … captivity shortens the life of marine mammals.”

Fox maintains that constructing a barrier to separate returning steelhead salmon from sea lions is the answer to the “human-made dilemma” at the locks.

But Frank Murru, a vice president and general curator at Sea World, said sea lions live longer in captivity than in the wild because of the absence of predators, parasites, pressure from competing sea lions, and at Sea World, “they have good medical care.”

Murru estimated Hondo’s age as 13 to 18, similar to the age of the other two sea lions shipped to Sea World from Seattle. Murru estimated that the average life span of a sea lion in the wild is the mid-teens, while they live into their mid- to late-20s in captivity. Fox estimated Hondo’s age at 10.

Hondo lived in the Pacific Point Preserve - two acres of waves, cliffs and rocks modeled after the Pacific Coast - with Bob and Big Frank, the other Seattle sea lions, and almost 50 other seals and sea lions.

Veterinarians did not expect Hondo’s infection to be contagious, Bides said, adding that all the other animals appeared healthy.

Hondo had shown no obvious signs of disease, Bides said.

“Animals in the wild often mask their symptoms so they don’t fall prey to other animals,” she said. “He appeared totally normal.”

Bides said Hondo had been displaying the typical mating behavior of sea lions during this time of year - a decrease in appetite and lack of activity.

She did not know if Hondo, who weighed in last May at 916 pounds, contracted the infection in captivity or in the wild.

She stressed, however, that the sea-lion trio from Seattle had acclimated well to their new home, which they entered on July 4.

The three sea lions were among five the state sentenced to death in May.