Rescued Sea Lion With Gunshot Wound Will Never Live in the Ocean - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

SANTA CRUZ, Calif- He was rescued in July after being found with a gunshot wound to the face. Now the Marine Mammal Center says that the young sea lion named Whirlybird will never live in the ocean again.

Researchers said they found Whirlybird listless and unresponsive on a set of stairs leading to the beach near Corcoran Lagoon. After taking him back to the Marine Mammal Center, an X-ray revealed that he had lots of metal fragments scattered throughout his head. "Simply put, he had been shot, and those metal fragments destroyed his right eye and damaged the other one so severely that he is now blind in both," said the Marine Mammal Center.

Despite not being blind and not being able to return to the wild, Whirlybird is holding his own at the Marine Mammal Center. For now they are looking to find a good home for him where he can receive the proper care he'll need to live a long life.

According to the Marine Mammal Center, "3% of sea lions rescued by the Center each year show signs of previous gunshot wounds. From 2001 through 2011, the Center admitted 5,703 sea lion patients and of those, 178 suffered from gunshot wounds."