King Neptune, seen here recovering from gunshot wounds at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, is the most recent victim of human-on-pinniped violence in the Bay Area. Mr. Neptune was found last Wednesday at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf suffering from "large caliber" gunshot wounds. He is the fourth such victim rescued by the MMC in the past year.

Examinations by the MMC staff at the Marin County facility found several bullet fragments lodged dangerously close to the young adult sea lion's spine, but Neptune is expected to pull through. The poor guy wasn't feeling much like eating after receiving a round of antibiotics upon his checkin at Club Pinniped, but a spokesman for the MMC says "he ate a couple of fish" from his supper of herring and squid yesterday.

Anyway, here he is flopping around in his new Sausalito plunge pool:

All previous Sea Lion coverage on SFist.
[Marine Mammal Center]
[CBS5]