[threadbear]

Tonight I went down to the local marina with my husband and good friend. There, swimming between the fingers of the dock and the moored boats was a baby seal, bawling it's eyes out. Upon further investigation we realized the little one had an umbilical cord attached, had just been born within the last few days. It was treading water, and I was worried it may be exhausting itself, with no mom in sight, so I hauled it onto the dock.

It seemed to be pretty strong, and about 10 lbs, so I simply picked it up and moved it as far out of harm's way as I could. It continued swimming around and was able to dive and resurface, without much trouble. We watched it swim around crying for it's mother for another 10 minutes or so, then silence. The mother probably finished feeding in the kelp beds nearby, then came back and got it. At least I hope this is what happened.

This is a tough issue, because everybody thinks they're an expert. I was told by one brain donor not to worry because it was an otter. Another well meaning idiot told me that you should NEVER interfere with a baby seal, regardless of circumstance. I didn't have time to get into it with him, or I would have told him that each case of a newborn without it's mother has to be judged independently. Fish stocks are down and babies are vulnerable. If it's a new born and the baby cries for several hours, you need to interfere, because she's not going to leave a tiny infant that long unless there is a problem.

Anyway, I am still a bit shaken by this, and have contacted the seal rescue people to make sure I did the right thing. It was so precious. Sweet little face, goofy big clown flippers on a little body, slippery and squishy. I'll keep you all posted, if the seal rescue people decide to go down there and check out the situation.

[blukatzen]

Good on you Threadbear, that little one must have been too precious! I hate to see a baby animal crying for it's mom like that.

I had a very stupid woman here at the garden center today leave her little Yorkie in a big Tundra, with the windows cracked 'just a pinch". I not only offer holistic dog treats for the visiting pooches to the garden center but also cups of water for them. (which on a very hot and humid day they are grateful to have.) I asked her 3 times (politely but firmly) that she needed to get her dog out RIGHT AWAY as the temperatures were building in the car. She said "Oh, it's alright"...and NO IT WAS NOT ALRIGHT. I got in my car, blocked her car, with her crying dog inside and called the police who responded very quickly. (she walked to her car and tried to get away when she realized I would not back down.)
The police gave her a STERN reprimand and told her about animal cruelty. I lost a customer but so what. That poor dog to have an owner like that.

What a bitch...and not the dog either.

Blu

[alpha480v]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('blukatzen', 'G')ood on you Threadbear, that little one must have been too precious! I hate to see a baby animal crying for it's mom like that.

I had a very stupid woman here at the garden center today leave her little Yorkie in a big Tundra, with the windows cracked 'just a pinch". I not only offer holistic dog treats for the visiting pooches to the garden center but also cups of water for them. (which on a very hot and humid day they are grateful to have.) I asked her 3 times (politely but firmly) that she needed to get her dog out RIGHT AWAY as the temperatures were building in the car. She said "Oh, it's alright"...and NO IT WAS NOT ALRIGHT. I got in my car, blocked her car, with her crying dog inside and called the police who responded very quickly. (she walked to her car and tried to get away when she realized I would not back down.)
The police gave her a STERN reprimand and told her about animal cruelty. I lost a customer but so what. That poor dog to have an owner like that.

What a bitch...and not the dog either.

Blu

[californydreamin]

I hate clowns.

Had me going there until you mentioned clowns. I never eat at McDonalds insane clown possy sandwich shop.

This is what the police should be doing, reprimanding women with dogs rather that busting up crack houses, no danger of getting shot there. They are mostly all pussies these days anyway.

[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('californydreamin', 'I') hate clowns.
Had me going there until you mentioned clowns. I never eat at McDonalds insane clown possy sandwich shop.
This is what the police should be doing, reprimanding women with dogs rather that busting up crack houses, no danger of getting shot there. They are mostly all pussies these days anyway.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'W')e are instructed to never interfere with seals. Their parents leave them for extended lengths of time to go fishing. People regularly come across seals on the beach and take them away thinking mom has abandoned them. Signs instructing folks to leave babies alone are posted regularly along our harbor and popular beach places.

It must have been a tough call for you. I hope mom finds the baby and they both make it.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('blukatzen', 'G')ood on you Threadbear, that little one must have been too precious! I hate to see a baby animal crying for it's mom like that.

I had a very stupid woman here at the garden center today leave her little Yorkie in a big Tundra, with the windows cracked 'just a pinch". I not only offer holistic dog treats for the visiting pooches to the garden center but also cups of water for them. (which on a very hot and humid day they are grateful to have.) I asked her 3 times (politely but firmly) that she needed to get her dog out RIGHT AWAY as the temperatures were building in the car. She said "Oh, it's alright"...and NO IT WAS NOT ALRIGHT. I got in my car, blocked her car, with her crying dog inside and called the police who responded very quickly. (she walked to her car and tried to get away when she realized I would not back down.)
The police gave her a STERN reprimand and told her about animal cruelty. I lost a customer but so what. That poor dog to have an owner like that.

What a bitch...and not the dog either.

Blu

[cannedsalmon]

Amazing.
This is why the planet is going under, our priorities are screwed up.

[threadbear]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cannedsalmon', 'A')mazing.
This is why the planet is going under, our priorities are screwed up.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'W')e are instructed to never interfere with seals. Their parents leave them for extended lengths of time to go fishing. People regularly come across seals on the beach and take them away thinking mom has abandoned them. Signs instructing folks to leave babies alone are posted regularly along our harbor and popular beach places.

It must have been a tough call for you. I hope mom finds the baby and they both make it.

[mercurygirl]

Whoa! I bet catching a baby deer was quite a trick.

I do know that rabbits leave their babies in the nest alone all day so they don't draw predators to them.

I don't know much about seals, but I would have been worried too. I bet it was the most lovable creature, most baby animals are.
TB, did you ever read "Ring of Bright Water", written by a man who kept otters in Scotland? You would really enjoy it.

[alpha480v]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cannedsalmon', 'A')mazing.
This is why the planet is going under, our priorities are screwed up.

[threadbear]

Fellow from one of the seal rescue place responds to my email. Here is what he writes.

"It is sometimes easy to over think a situation when an animal is involved. I really have no good news for you unless this situation occurred a few days ago. On July 9 we admitted a pup from Thieves Bay and it is doing well. Everything you described to me is a pup with no mother. The crying, swimming between boats, allowing itself to be picked out of the water and its size all say orphan. We generally tell people if you can pick it up its in trouble. I have never seen a 7 pound pup and 10 pounds is the lightest we have admitted. Healthy birth weight is around 22 pounds."

I called the operation in Vancouver and they said I probably did the RIGHT thing.

I felt like screaming..."Will you people PUHleeeeeze develop some kind of coherent policy that doesn't leave people utterly confused!"

I went back down to the marina this morning and all seemed to be well. Talked to a woman who said there is a resident seal who hangs around the marina. It has almost zero fear of humans. It could have been her pup. It WAS underweight. It was hard to tell just how heavy it was, though. I didn't have a scale. It couldn't have been much more than 15 lbs.--It's ribs weren't apparent, nor could I feel them. I touched it as little as possible, and put it back in the water as soon as I could.

[threadbear]

Baby seal update! Yesterday morning I talked to a few people down at the marina, and left them the number of the seal rescue people, with a request to fish the little dude out of the water and phone them immediately if he came back, as he was probably starving.

He was back at the marina, this morning, crying and trying to milk the rubber fenders on boats. Kathy, one of the women I spoke to yesterday, phoned the seal rescue people on Salt Spring, after fishing him out of the water. It turns out the Salt Spring rescue group DID assess the situation most accurately. I just spoke with them. The little guy is very weak, underweight, but also vocal, not injured in any way, so his prognosis is very good.

The problem for agencies dealing with animal rescue is they have to be able to give an easy to process comprehensible and simple instruction set for the general public. Generally speaking, it IS the best idea to leave a baby seal alone. If they try to get anymore situation specific than that, many people, being woefully retarded when it comes to wildlife, could end up misinterpreting it and kidnapping large numbers of seals from their mothers, unintentionally.

Anyway, a happy ending. My friend and I were screaming and laughing with relief, and my husband was also over-joyed.

[Ludi]

I'm so glad there was a relatively happy resolution to this.

Good luck little sealbaby!

[mercurygirl]

[threadbear]

Mercury Girl, I haven't read Ring of Bright Water, but I'll put it on my watch list! Thanks.

Ludi, Thanks so much. Die-off is awful, in the abstract, but when it's looking at you through lonely hungry eyes, the emotional pain becomes very personal and intense.

The seals at the center are released back into the wild as soon as they're able to fend for themselves. I just pray there's enough food for them all, back in the ocean.