Walking along Linda Mar Beach on Friday, Feb. 21, third grade Ocean Shore teacher Sheila Gamble-Dorn, spotted a very lethargic sea lion by San Pedro Creek.
She called The Marine Mammal Center 24-Hour Rescue Hotline: 415-289-SEAL (415-289-7325).
"Someone had already called," the school teacher was relieved to learn. "Help was on its way."
Located in the Marin Headlands, just minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marine Mammal Center is a nonprofit veterinary research hospital and educational center. Their core work is "the rescue and rehabilitation of sick and injured marine mammals, supported by state-of-the-art animal care and research facilities, a corps of dedicated volunteers, and an engaged community." Their mission is "to expand knowledge about marine mammals, their health and that of their ocean environment, and to inspire their global conservation."
The Center covers 600 miles of Central and Northern California coastline and inland areas, from Fort Bragg to San Luis Obispo, including San Francisco Bay. Gamble-Dorn and a concerned group of citizens, kept a watchful eye on the ailing pinniped. They stood at a distance.
"No matter what animal you see on the beach, these are wild animals," said Sarah van Schagen, Story and Communications Curator, Marine Mammal Center. "Don't try to inspect wounds. Keep your distance for your own safety and don't allow your pets anywhere near them. The best thing to do is call the Marine Mammal Center and we will send our trained volunteers to determine the best course of action for that animal."
Sometimes the Marine Mammal Center experts will determine that the best course of action is to do nothing.
"A perfectly healthy seal may be taking a rest on the beach," van Schagen said. "Or it could be a seal pup waiting for its mom to return. We put the animals on watch and if we determine they do need to be rescued we send our team in."
On this particular Friday, the lethargic sea lion was desperately sick. With the Center's trained volunteer supervising the rescue, Gamble-Dorn and a number of gathering surfers assisted with the crating of the sea lion, who was then rushed to the Center's hospital. Like all marine mammals rescued by the Center, this adult female California sea lion was given a name — Xiphoid. (In Xiphoid's case, she was named by one of the Center's volunteers who is studying for a veterinary technician exam. A "xiphoid" is the tip of the sternal bone.)
Xiphoid did not make it through her first night at the Marine Mammal hospital — a sad reality of running a hospital for very sick wild animals. The nonprofit's veterinary research staff performed a necropsy on Xiphoid and continue to run tests to determine the cause of her death. The results will be shared with animal researchers the world over. The hope is always that the information learned will save lives.
There are others under the care of the Center, including 10 California sea lions, the Center's most common patient given that this region is their home. There are also several Northern elephant seal pups as well as a number of Pacific harbor seal pups. There is also an adult Guadalupe fur seal, an endangered species and very unusual to this area. She was found at Pacifica's Rockaway Beach on February 22. She is in critical condition. Her name is Polina.
"We don't see Guadalupe fur seals very often because they are pelagic animals and live out in the open water," van Schagen noted. "When we do see them, when they strand, that means there is something really wrong."
Polina is very thin. She has an irregular heartbeat and is exhibiting some unusual behavior, specifically uncoordinated movements that indicate there may be something wrong with her brain. Currently the Center is trying to build up her strength by tube feeding her twice a day with antibiotics, vitamins and fluids. If they can get her a little stronger they can then run tests to see what else may be going on. As to the pups at the Center, they are being taught how to fish.
"We are just starting to get into our pupping season," van Schagen said. "Marine mammals have a very regular schedule in terms of when they give birth. Every year at this time we start seeing pups at the hospital. If there is a big storm, pups can get separated from their moms."
Often harbor seal pups arrive at the Center so young, that the umbilical cord is still attached. They are given a special milk formula and will eventually graduate to what the Center calls a "fish smoothie" — fish blended with salmon oil and other vitamins.
"When they get a bit older and should be catching fish in the wild, we do fish school," van Schagen said. "We literally have to teach them to catch fish. We offer them dead fish on a string, moving the fish around the pool and try to get them interested. At some point they figure out they can get the fish in their mouth, but then they have to figure out how to swallow it."
Seals have sharp teeth for catching fish but no teeth for grinding and chewing. Fish are swallowed whole. In the wild, this process is learned by watching mom. At the Center, all the pups are tube fed until they successfully graduate from fish school, making it clear they can go out in the wild and get fish on their own.
The Center has more than 1,000 volunteers which enables them to care for many animals. Each year they will see anywhere from 600 to 800 marine mammals suffering malnourishment, entanglement in marine debris, shark bites, premature separation from their mothers, poisoning, gunshot wounds, and a number of illnesses. Volunteers clean pens, prepare meals and feed the animals. Other volunteers conduct rescues and some teach. The Marine Mammal Center offers school-aged programs and tours, and adult/family programs and tours. They are privately funded and rely on donations and memberships. Their most glorious days are when a patient is healed.
"Any animal we see here is not doing well," van Schagen said. "We are always excited when they get better and we can release them back into the wild."
The Marine Mammal Center, http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/, 2000 Bunker Road, Fort Cronkhite, Sausalito. Open daily 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Report a distressed marine mammal (415) 289-SEAL.
Jean Bartlett can be reached at email@example.com.