SEWARD — A 22-year-old Steller sea lion that was one of the original residents of the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward was euthanized Monday.
The center says the sea lion named Woody had stopped eating and had rapidly declined.
Male Steller sea lions in the wild rarely survive beyond their teens, according to the center.
Woody was 5 when he and two females of the same age, Sugar and Kiska, were moved north from the Vancouver Aquarium. Kiska died in 2010 of pancreatic cancer, and Sugar died in March of bone cancer.
The center says more than 2 million visitors viewed Woody. The massive animal reached 2,400 pounds in 2014.
He is survived by two offspring.
The nonprofit Alaska SeaLife Center is Alaska’s only public aquarium and ocean wildlife rescue center.
