ISLAND COUNTY, Wash — A team effort by marine experts saved a sea lion in Washington last week by removing a plastic strap stuck around its neck.

Video from the SeaDoc Society shows a Stellar sea lion with a tightly-wrapped plastic strap around its neck, cutting into the skin. The sea lion was spotted by a whale watcher between Lopez Island and San Juan Island in the Salish Sea.

"The animal right now has a big packing strap tangled around its neck," a marine expert says in a video of the rescue. "If we don't do something, it's going to die."

With the piece of plastic wrapped so tightly around the sea lion's neck, the animal was in immediate danger, according to the SeaDoc Society.

Working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a team of 12 scientists from SeaD

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