Freeway, the land-loving sea lion with a penchant for wandering far from his ocean home, has been euthanized, SeaWorld San Diego said Friday.
From the San Diego International Airport to a storm drain in Logan Heights, Freeway seemed to have an inexplicable need to venture inland.“Before he was rescued last year, he had contracted a progressive disease that our animal care experts diagnosed,” SeaWorld said Friday on Facebook. “Despite extensive treatment, the disease caused his health to deteriorate over time.”This sea lion, who has become known as Freeway, wandered inland in April through a storm drain and ended up in Logan Heights.
His freeway stunt prompted rescue No. 2. Several months later, he was rescued again, this time after someone spotted him wandering up a storm drain in Logan Heights, about a half-mile from where the drain hits San Diego Harbor. It was also unclear why Freeway didn’t stay with a group of sea lions, like the animals usually do, officials said last year. At SeaWorld, he was been living with three other three sea lions, and had been social with them.