Respect Seals During Pupping Season

By Shelbi Stoudt
Marine Mammal Center

March 11, 2006

The Marine Mammal Center has officially kicked off its harbor and elephant seal pupping season with the arrival of two smaller, younger patients within the past couple of weeks. Every year, around this time, the Marine Mammal Center begins to admit these vulnerable pup patients who are generally malnourished and suffering from maternal separation.

Our first Northern elephant seal pup patient, Peyton, arrived at the Sausalito hospital on February 23 after having been rescued from Scotts Creek Beach in Northern Santa Cruz County. She was found alone on the beach, underweight and having only partially shed the black coat she was born with.

Elephant seals are born every January at Point Reyes National Seashore and Año Nuevo State Reserve. They nurse from their mothers for only about a month before being weaned. The mother then returns to sea, leaving the elephant seal pup to learn to swim and find food on its own.

Ree Ree, a 3–4 day old, slightly premature harbor seal pup, was rescued on February 25 from Pirate’s Cove in the Morro Bay area. He was separated from or abandoned by his mother and had been tossed onto the rocks by waves. Ree Ree is the first pup patient to be admitted to the newly opened San Luis Obispo Rescue and Triage Center in Morro Bay. We then transported him to our Sausalito-based hospital for further treatment, where he is currently resting comfortably.

Harbor seal pups, like Ree Ree, are typically born in March and April in various areas within the San Francisco Bay Area, and along the San Mateo and Marin County coastlines. Like elephant seals, harbor seals pups stay with their mothers for about a month, but unlike elephant seals, harbor seal pups can swim at birth. They will often be found resting alone on a beach while their mother is out foraging for food. Their chances of survival increase when they are with their mothers nursing for that first month, and receiving the proper nutrients and antibodies needed to thrive.

The Marine Mammal Center admits, on average, about 120 elephant seals and 50 harbor seals a year. Last year, we admitted 12 elephant seals and 15 harbor seals from Marin County alone. Most were malnourished, weaned pups; many are under two weeks old. Many of the pups’ admissions, especially harbor seal pups, can be attributed to human interactions and illegal pickups. This year, we’ve launched a public education campaign called, “Leave Seal Be.” We’re asking people not to rescue or disturb marine mammals, to stay 50 feet back, and to call our 24-hour response hotline at (415) 289-SEAL to report ill, injured or stranded seal pups.

When we receive a report of a sick, injured or abandoned marine mammal, we dispatch local, trained volunteers to assess the condition of the animal. They will normally monitor the animal for up to 24 hours before attempting a rescue, but in some cases, where it appears that the animal is seriously ill or in grave danger, they’ll perform a rescue on the spot.

The Marine Mammal Center (www.marinemammalcenter.org) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Sausalito. Staff and volunteers are dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of ill and injured marine mammals, to research about their diseases, and to public education about them and ocean health. Since 1975, more than 11,000 California sea lions, elephant seals, porpoises and other marine life have been treated that have been rescued along 600 miles of coastline stretching from Mendocino County to San Luis Obispo County. Shelbi Stoudt is the center’s director of stranding.