The sea lion was tangled up near Nevelsk on Russia’s Sakhalin Island (Picture: Yuri Smityuk/Cover Images)

A sea lion with a dangerous plastic ring wrapped around its neck has been rescued in a dramatic operation. 

The female Steller’s sea lion,a protected species,was spotted tangled up in the plastic loop near the port town of Nevelsk on Russia’s Sakhalin Island.

Photos show the animal resting on a breakwater rock alongside other sea lions as a rescue boat carrying a team of specialists approaches. 

Nevelsk in the Sakhalin Region,Russia.(Picture: Yuri Smityuk/Cover Images)

For the first time,environmentalists were allowed to use remote anesthesia to subdue the sea lion,using medication provided by the regional Ministry of Health. 

Rescuers subdued the sea lion with anesthesia.(Picture: Yuri Smityuk/Cover Images)

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.Rescue group “Friends of the Ocean” approached the breakwater and fired a dart at the animal.The rescuers then carefully made their way across the rocks before removing the plastic ring,ending the sea lion’s ordeal.Nevelsk is a popular gathering place for the sea lions. (Picture: Yuri Smityuk/Cover Images)The ring had cut deeply into the sea lion’s flesh,leaving a severe wound that rescuers feared would worsen if it was not removed.Rescuers administered a second medication to reverse the anesthesia,and monitored her until she regained consciousness. The successful rescue took place on a breakwater near Nevelsk,on the southwest coast of Sakhalin Island.Nevelsk is facing increasing pollution from plastic debris (Picture: Yuri Smityuk/Cover Images)It’s one of the only places in the world where Steller sea lions gather directly in a town port,with hundreds of the animals often packed together.But the area has become polluted by marine debris which can pose a serious risk to the animals’ safety.