WASHINGTON STATE —Two Guadalupe fur seal pups, native to Southern California and Mexico, have been successfully rehabilitated and released back into the wild after months of recovery at Des Moines-based marine wildlife hospitalSealife Response + Rehab + Research(SR3).
The Guadalupe pups were found severely underweight and minimally responsive on the beach near Ocean Shores. Washington Fish and Wildlife responders immediately knew something was wrong and contacted SR3.
They will travel very far up the coast, all the way up, even into BC, usually very far offshore. So we should not be seeing them on our beaches here in the Pacific Northwest. So, when we do, we know that something is wrong. Typically, we see these animals in very thin body condition, and they are usually observed anywhere from around the age of one to adulthood. So we’re not seeing the very tiny babies up here. They’re not giving up.
Casey McLean, SR3’s executive director and veterinary nurse, said Guadalupe pups will travel as far north as Vancouver, B.C., but they stay very far offshore. “We should not be seeing them on our beaches here,” McLean said.
McLean said finding the pups on the beach helps in their research.
“We know that if they are sick, then usually that’s going to affect the human population as well. Because if they’re sick and they are top predators in the ocean, that generally means that down the food chain, other things are sick, and we rely on things down the food chain, and we eat those things.”After three months of critical medical treatment, the seals were released back into the ocean, marking a joyful moment for the SR3 team. “That was a very exciting day,” McLean said.
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