Monday, March 9, 2009

The Eternal Stench

As promised in my first post, the Elephant Seals have arrived! The PMMC recieved 2 of them this week: Augustine and Tallahasse. 


These fatties are actually a little underweight, and lost their parents. I didn't know before I walked into the center this week, but Elephant Seal pups are probably the most foul smelling things I've ever encountered- and that's coming from someone who's around dead fish on a oddly regular basis. Think of the worst smell you can think of, now put that smell is a hot car for about a month with some mayo and cheese, and you might begin to smell something similar to an Ele pup..


Once I got used to the smell (this never actually happened.. I'm still wondering if I should burn the clothes I wore that day instead of washing them) it was time to clean their pens. These guys are very blunt and very loud! Even though they are extremely tired and unhealthy pups right now they still let you know when your getting too close by letting out a deep gutteral shout. 
The Ele's have a lot of the staff's attention right now, and I'm willing to bet that by next week they will be looking much better. 

This week also brought us two new California Sea Lions: Veronica and Tuscany. 


Both of these guys were found on the Orange County coast, and look pretty malnourished. Right now they are on a diet of fish smoothies that will fatten them up very quickly. They weight about 20 pounds each, and are gaining around 1 pound per day, but once they start eating raw fish they will start putting on a ton of weight very quickly. 


I know they look cute, but don't let that face deceive you. These guys were acting very lethargic, just laying around all day trying to regain their energy, so we tube fed them in the same pen without much protection. During Tuscany's feeding, innocent looking Veronica bolted up and locked her jaws on one of the handler's arms! Luckily she didn't do much damage because of her small size, but it just goes to show you that even the weakest and smallest of the wild animals will still put up a fight to protect themselves. 

Remember the two adult females (the big ladies) from last week? Well one of them, Mendocino, is still in our care, and it looks like she's doing better than she was when she first came in. She's eating now, and the Doc has deemed it OK for her to stay in a pen with a pool. As a bonus, she gets it all to herself because she's the only full grown adult in the center! 


Unfortunately, ASP (amnesic shellfish poisoning) is not cureable. The Domoic Acid has done some serious damage to Mendocino, and she will only get worse. I can't say if she will ever be released, since she has difficulty foraging for food on her own. At least at the center she is given enough medical care to stave off malnourishment and death by drowning (post-siezure). The 2nd of our big ladies died during the week, succuming to the affects of ASP on her central nervous system. Hopefully her death can bring attention to the problem of Domoic Acid in our coastal waters, and prevent more of her kind from falling to the same fate. 


Everyone else at the center is doing great. Some of our healthier (fatter) pups are almost ready to be released! Stay tuned for future entries on: causes and effects of Domoic Acid, release parties, and our special sea lion.. Bismark! 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

I didn't understand the concluding part of your article, could you please explain it more?

Which is your favorite pinniped at PMMC?