First Release of 2012

Our first release of the year took place today at the cove below the Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes. We released two rehabilitated  Sea Lion yearlings.

Click here for news coverage of the release!

The Daily Breeze and KCAL 9 News were there to cover the release. Follow this link for photos of the release!

Marine Mammal Care Center @ Ft. MacArthur

Guadalupe fur seal (Arctocephalus townsendi) #11-10 release

By Chris Huff

June 27, 2011

4:30AM

It was still dark at the MMCC when I arrived. Dr. Palmer was already there and the Guadalupe fur seal was in a transport carrier with several fish. Dr. Palmer and I removed the back seats from the van and put down a blue plastic tarp. She wet the towel in the bottom of the carrier and we put the carrier in the van, facing the gate toward the front of the van so we could easily observe the animal in transit, and placed a small board between the gate and the driver and passenger seats in the front. Kenin Greer arrived at about 4:45.

5:00AM

We left for Ventura via the Harbor Freeway to the 405 to the 101 and up the coast. Kenin drove. The fur seal rode well. She was quiet, sitting up looking around at times, curled up in the back of the transport carrier at other times. Dr. Palmer said the sound and movement of highway driving may be soothing for her and that appeared to be the case.

5:45AM

Island Packers in Ventura Harbor, an ecotourism outfit, was providing the ride to San Miguel. Per their instructions, I called at 5:45 to confirm the boat was still going. It was. It was sunny, clear and cool when the sun came up…no wind.

6:18AM

We stopped at a Subway in Ventura to get a couple of sandwiches for the trip before driving to the boat. The fur seal was sitting up, looking around. She was quiet and calm. She hadn’t eaten any of the fish Dr. Palmer put in the carrier for her, although she’d done a thorough job chewing one up.

6:42AM

In the Island Packers’ parking lot; the boat was scheduled to leave at 8. The fur seal was sitting up and looking out both sides of carrier. She seemed alert to the fact the van was quiet and no longer moving.

Island Packers’ website describes their services as

Cruising the California Channel Islands for education, recreation, and research since 1968. Let

your island adventure begin with the experienced crew from Island Packers. Providing first rate transportation services for island hiking, camping, kayaking, whale watching, school field trips, sightseeing and harbor cruises. We travel to all five islands in the Channel Islands National Park.

7:40AM

We checked in, loaded the animal, securing the carrier against the transom at the stern of the boat. No fumes there and a smoother ride. There were 60 or so people on the boat…surfers, campers, hikers and fishermen headed to Santa Rosa and San Miguel. Many of them were curious about the animal and what we were doing and seemed excited that we were there. Kenin and I took advantage of the opportunity to do a little outreach and successfully kept all fingers out of the carrier.

8:05AM

Underway. San Miguel Island, part of the Channel Islands National Park, is 58 miles from Ventura. Its remote wilderness is often referred to as the “back country of the Channel Islands.” As a result, it only sees about 200 visitors a year.

Seas across the channel were running about 4-6 feet; winds about 15-20 knots. Skies were mostly sunny and clear. Our boat, the Islander, is a 64-foot long catamaran that handled the swells pretty well, running at 20 knots. I only saw one person get seasick.  The north sides of the northern Channel Islands are the windward side, so there is nothing that breaks the seas or wind that comes from the northwest…nothing but open ocean. A crewmember told me our trip out was relatively benign. We checked on the fur seal frequently; she didn’t seem stressed by the boat ride.

When we passed the west end of Santa Cruz and turned southwest toward Santa Rosa, the swells picked up to about 6 feet and the weather took a turn for the foggy and cold. I was told the area between the west end of Santa Cruz and the east end of Santa Rosa is a called a “potato patch,” a description of the potato-like shape of the seas, round, lumpy, etc. This is caused by the convergence of two currents that tend to roil the seas in between the islands…and it didn’t disappoint. We secured the blue plastic tarp over the carrier in order to keep a lot of ocean spray off the fur seal. Sounds odd, she being a marine mammal, but it seemed to be the thing to do. Kenin and I put on our extra layers.

10:35AM

We dropped anchor in Becher’s Bay (Santa Rosa Island) and the crew put everyone and their gear ashore using two inflatables. Because of the surf breaking on the sandy beach, the crewmembers running the inflatables had to back the boats in to the shore in order to keep from being swamped by breakers. The crew running the inflatables wore wetsuits. It was sunny, windy and cold.

11:20AM

We left Becher’s Bay for San Miguel Island and arrived at Cardwell Point, on the southeast end of San Miguel, at about 12:20.

12:30PM

We gave the skipper the directions that Dr. Palmer gave us about a release site. The GPS coordinates were 34’02′ N and 120’18′ W…Cardwell Point on the southeast end of San Miguel. The skipper told me there were other sites that met the criteria (sandy beach, some rocks, isolated, no humans), but he had recently seen a large number of sea lions and elephant seals at those locations. He said Cardwell Point had animals, but in smaller numbers. When we arrived there were animals on the beach. The boat was bouncing so it was tough to get a good look with binoculars, but I saw animals on the shore that looked like either Northern or Guadalupe fur seals (dark fur, flattened profile, thicker neck, shorter snout), but I couldn’t positively identify them. Sea lions were on the beach as well.

I tied a rope on the carrier and secured it to the rail of the boat as a precaution in case the carrier went overboard with the animal inside. We were about 75 yards from shore, engines at idle when we put the fur seal in the water off the shore side of the boat. She went in (a little tail over tea kettle, but nothing drastic), sped away from the boat, porpoised and headed toward a rocky spit. She was swimming a foot or so below the surface so it was relatively easy to follow her. I saw her surface briefly about 30 yards from the boat in the direction of the shore, dive, and she was gone. I didn’t see her again. I would like to have stayed a few minutes longer to watch for her, but the boat had a pickup to do.

12:40PM

We made a short run up the coast to Cuyler Harbor and dropped anchor. Campers coming off the island with their gear were picked up. Kenin and I got a chance to go ashore and took a short hike along the shoreline and explored a small sea cave. I talked to a National Park Service Ranger who works on San Miguel; seven days on and seven days off. He said it’s quite an experience.

1:20PM

Weighed anchor and ran back to Becher’s Bay on Santa Rosa to pick up more campers.

2:30PM

We (Kenin and I watched) picked up more campers, loaded gear, secured the inflatables and were underway for Santa Cruz at 3:14.  Weather was sunny, windy and clear.  A small pod of common dolphins swam alongside for a few minutes.

3:45PM

Painted Cave on the north side of Santa Cruz. The sea cave, depending on what you read, is either the longest or the second longest sea cave in the world. It is 130’ feet high and the skipper took the Islander about 150 feet back into the cave…it was awesome. For all you “Pirates of the Caribbean” fans, I was told by crew members that Jack Sparrow rowed a boat into this cave in the first “Pirates” movie.

3:55PM

Back to sea. The weather was sunny and clear; seas 3-5 feet. We were running with the wind so the ride back was a bit smoother.

5:47PM

Dockside in Ventura. Kenin and I loaded the van and answered questions for a couple of people who saw the van and the two of us with the transport carrier. I drove as we took a pleasant evening ride down the coast highway. We picked up a couple of sandwiches for the road.

8:30PM

Back at the MMCC. If you have the sea legs for this kind of a trip, I would highly recommend it the next time the opportunity comes up. I know the caveats about anthropomorphizing, but watching the fur seal go, it sure looked to me like she was glad to be back.

Chris Huff

May 3rd Release Photos:

(All stranding responses are conducted under a Stranding Agreement between NMFS and the Marine Mammal Care Center)

USCG Boat Release

In cases where an animal’s best release option is a boat release, we have been fortunate to have the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST). They have always been willing to step up and kindly lend us the use of their boat and crew. Here are some pictures from our most recent journey with the USCG boat.

On Tuesday April 10th, several of our California sea lion pups were returned to the ocean. The pups were found stranded along southland beaches throughout the last few months of 06′. They were all treated by our dedicated volunteers and staff who spent many hours treating the animals,and getting them up to a healthy weight.

Northern elephant seal released

One of our largest Northern elephant seals and a female California seal lion were both given a clean bill of health and were able to be released . 07-13 the elephant seal and the sea lion have been with us a few months and we are glad to say they were both eating well and healthy enough for release on Tuesday April 3rd.

Photos by Mary Beth Marks

California sea lion pup release, March 22nd, 2007.

By Chris Villanueva

The afternoon of March 22nd came with beautiful weather outside and a great volunteer turnout for the release of eight California sea lion pups. The sea lion pups, who were all admitted to the Care Center within the last few months, were put into kennels one by one and then loaded into our new release vehicle. This was the big test to see how our truck holds up to a bunch of well fed sea lions… and it did the job well. So with the animals all ready to go,everyone hopped in the “Seal Mobile”and prepared themselves for about a five minute drive along the beautiful San Pedro Coastline to White Point State Beach.

We arrived at the beach where the sea lions were unloaded off the truck. Several of them peeking out of the kennels seemed excited by the sight and smell of the ocean. We couldn’t have asked for the weather to be any better than it was with a wonderful view of the Catalina Coastline. So finally they were all lined up and ready to go. On the count of three, the kennels were opened and all eight of the sea lions in one big group took their final step into their journey back home. We watched them play in the surf for a short time until one after another they dissappeared into the” Deep Blue Sea”.