I'll Have Two Seals to Go

Recently, I had the pleasure to get involved in my favorite job at the marine mammal hospital: releasing our patients back into the wild. You would think that releasing would be an easier job than actually capturing sick and wounded animals. However, that is often not the case when you're trying to coax a wary (and powerful) sea lion into a container for transport; it goes against all their instincts to comply. Naturally, these two sea lions put on a remarkable display of resistance, requiring 8 people to corrall them for transport--quite out of the ordinary. Don't they know they're going home? Personally, I think their tenacity will serve them well in the wild as they compete for food and evade predators such as sharks and killer whales.

After all the drama of herding these two spirited sea lions, Ziccardi and Miamita, it was a relatively easy journey down to Half Moon Bay for release. Of course, these two just had to bounce around in their enclosures during the whole trip, startling onlooking commuters! Once their moment of freedom arrived, we were lucky for a group of nearby children and parents witness the release. After all the sickness, injury, and loss I see at the hospital, the experience to see a healthy sea lion return home is very rewarding. Good luck to Ziccardi and Miamita!
Photo credit: Jules Winters