The Marine Mammal Center

The Marine Mammal Center has rescued a few fur seal pups recently, one of which has the distinction of being the smallest animal ever treated on site. Anabelle, a northern fur seal pup, weighed only 7 lbs. when she was rescued off a beach in Santa Cruz County and brought to the Center on Oct. 5. She’s still quite small, but gaining strength and weight every day as she eagerly gobbles down fish at feeding time. Two other northern fur seal pups also arrived in succession after Anabelle, and two more arrived this week. Unfortunately, they were all very weak, and three of the animals did not survive. However, one of the patients, dubbed ”Rebelure”, is alive and holding on, though still in intensive care. It was transferred to the Center by the Tracy Animal Control mouth after the animal wandered a mile over land and coincidentally appeared in front of the agency. The fur seal reportedly had three fish hooks caught in its mouth. Another northern fur seal, nicknamed “Farber”, employed a similar strategy on November 16, and wandered into the parking lot of a business in Fairfield before The Marine Mammal Center rescued him. Though still quite fragile, he is currently eating fish at the Center’s hospital.

These early season rescues may signify an event similar to what rescuers saw last year when they rescued 34 fur seals within a three month period. Staff at the Center are waiting to see what develops this season as they keep a watchful eye over Anabelle and Rebelure.

In addition to these rescues, The Marine Mammal Center recently coordinated the release of three Guadalupe fur seals. On October 25, Dr. Felicia Nutter made a late-night trip to the Oakland Airport baggage claim to pick up Mica, a Guadalupe fur seal that was flown down from the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska! Two other Guadalupe fur seals were also transported by car from the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center in Crescent City. It is highly unusual to see this species so far north of their native waters in Southern California and Mexico, so the three seals spent the night at The Marine Mammal Center’s Sausalito hospital and were released together the following morning near San Simeon.. Now that’s teamwork!

Click here to see video of Anabelle and her penmate, Dandelion, who sadly died shortly after arriving.

Melissa is the first harbor seal pup admitted to The Center this pupping season with her dark colored coat. She arrived with her lanugo coat, which is a layer of fur usually shed before birth and indicates she may have been born prematurely. She was picked up from Shell Beach in San Luis Obispo County weighing in at 8.3 kg or about 18 pounds. on February 23, 2007. Her condition is stable and she has been moved from the outside condos to U-1 pen, with in-ground pool.

Nigel

Nigel sleeping in the quarantine, indoor condos, shortly after arrival.

Nigel was picked up on March 4, 2007 from Gate Six Marina in Richardson Bay. He was named after a gentleman that continued to keep watch on the animal and call in his condition to The Center. Upon admittance, Nigel weighed in at 7.1 kg or about 16 pounds.

Tamar, Hebrew for “little fig”, was admitted the same day as harbor seal, Melissa, announcing the beginning of the 2007 pupping season at The Center. She was rescued from Panther Beach in Santa Cruz County covered almost entirely with tar, with dye on her back and a pink flipper tag.

The pink tag indicated to Point Reyes Bird Observatory Researcher, Derek Lee, that Tamar was an animal born on January 20. Tamar’s mother had adopted another pup a day before giving birth. She nursed both her pup and the adopted pup to be half-size weaners and then left the island. Then Tamar, an underweight, young black coat, swam from the Farallon Islands to Santa Cruz in eight days, which is a quite a spectacular feat for a young pup.

Weighing only about 98 pounds, Tamar was admitted to The Center on February 23, 2007. Since then, she has molted her black coat that was once almost completely covered with tar. She is being tube fed by staff and volunteers and has begun fish school. In fish school, she will learn how to track and catch fish, a necessary skill for survival in the wild.

Click on a thumbnail to see pictures of some of The Center’s elephant seal weaner patients.

Chowder was picked up on March 1, 2007 at Fort Funston in San Francisco County. The little weaner weighed in at almost 64 pounds and is sharing a pen with Tamar (pictured above).

There are currently 30 elephant seals on site (March 26, 2007), which means that pupping season is in full swing.

Astro videos
Astro travels from The Marine Mammal Center to Long Marine Lab August 2007–watch here.
Astro travels from Long Marine Lab to Mystic Aquarium February 2008–watch here.
Learn more about Astro and his cross-country journey February 2008–watch here.

On February 26, 2008, Astro was transferred from Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, where he will become an educational subject for thousands of visitors to learn about Steller sea lions. As you may recall, Astro initially came to The Marine Mammal Center in June 2006 after being separated from his mother as a pup, and was unsuccessfully released in April 2007. Astro was transferred to Long Marine Lab in August, 2007 (see previous report below) after restranding multiple times and unfortunately, being deemed unsuitable for release by The Marine Mammal Center. He remained at Long Marine Lab while a permanent home for him was sought. Mystic Aquarium offered to provide him with a home at their facility.

Astro’s journey to Connecticut and transfer to the aquarium went very well. Along with a human escort, Astro traveled via a FedEx plane in a large carrier. Upon his arrival at Mystic, Astro adjusted to his new home immediately. He ate well the day after arrival, and the Aquarium staff is delighted with him. Mystic Aquarium plans to put together a compilation of footage of Astro for educational purposes at a later date. The Center will post the link when it becomes available.

Astro, a Steller sea lion, was rescued from Año Nuevo Island in June 2006 as a pup after having been separated from his mother. He weighed just 39 pounds at the time of his rescue, but grew stronger and bigger at the center. In April 2007, veterinarians believed Astro was ready to return to the wild. He was released April 25 at Año Nuevo State Park, weighing in at about 185 pounds. A satellite tag was attached to his back to track his travels; however, Astro was reluctant to leave the beach and stayed with some young elephant seals nearby. So the center re-rescued him the next day and took him to the Farallon Islands – a place where other Steller sea lions live. After his release, Astro stayed on and around the islands for about a week. It’s not known exactly why on May 8, Astro swam back to the mainland. The Marine Mammal Center re-rescued him and took him back to the Farallones, but Astro came back to Corte Madera two days later, finding his way to an elementary school, where a walk-a-thon was being held. Astro was once again rescued and this time, he was brought back to The Marine Mammal Center. Back at the center, Astro spent several months eating and socializing with other sea lions while veterinarians and researchers formulated a plan for his future. Unfortunately, because of his failure to reintegrate into the wild sea-lion population, Astro would no longer be releasable back to his natural habitat. It is uncertain why Astro responded in such a way, as he was treated with the same protocols as other successfully released Steller sea lions at the center; however, sea lions have individual characteristics and respond in unique ways to treatment. One thing was clear-- Astro, as an intelligent and curious animal, would not receive the stimuli he needed to keep him occupied at The Marine Mammal Center, where the facilities are geared toward treatment and release. Astro would need activities to keep his sharp mind active. On August 7, 2007, Astro left The Marine Mammal Center at a whopping 252 pounds and was taken to UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Lab, where he is participating in training and metabolic rate and hearing research studies. Researchers at Long report that Astro is settling in well. He is eating almost 25 pounds of fish a day and seems to enjoy learning basic commands, responding to both verbal and whistle prompts. These skills will be necessary to ensure proper care for him as he has more contact with human caretakers in the future. Astro will likely be transferred to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut this fall. As one of only five facilities in the world where Steller sea lions can be viewed, Mystic Aquarium has the specialized experience to care for Astro. Not only will he be in an environment with other Steller sea lions, but he will serve as a great educational subject to many people as they learn about the threatened species through him.