Last year was a busy year for The Marine Mammal Center, responding to more than 900 marine mammals between San Luis Obispo and Mendocino counties.
“In a way we responded to more marine mammals here in the county than anywhere else across our range that extends up to Mendocino County,” said Giancarlo Rulli, a Marine Mammal Center spokesperson.
Half of the 407 marine mammal response calls in San Luis Obispo County last year were due to a domoic acid poisoning outbreak.
“We responded to 200 sea lions alone in August and September in SLO County due to the bloom,” Rulli said.
Two elephant seal pups and one harbor seal pup are currently at the center in Morro Bay as pupping season is underway along the Central Coast.
“During that time of year, we will rescue malnourished harbor seals and elephant seals and bring them back to our facility here in Morro Bay, get them some treatment and then they will go to our main hospital in Sausalito for the rest of their rehabilitation,” said Aliah Meza, Marine Mammal Center SLO operations manager.
One of the elephant seal pups was found at Hearst State Beach.
“We saw 26% of all marine mammals that our trained responders rescued were impacted in some way by human or dog interaction,” Rulli said.
One of those interactions was this past Saturday when a Marine Mammal Center spokesperson says an off-leash dog was rushing up to a malnourished elephant seal pup, which was later rescued.
“Especially in context of domoic acid poisoning, these animals are already stressed, they’re having neurologic symptoms including seizure and by having an off-leash dog brush up on that animal or a person get really close to it trying to take a photo or even reporting it but doing so within a five-foot or 10-foot distance, that extra stress could be life-threatening to that animal,” Rulli said.
Meza says marine mammals provide a window into the health of the ocean.
“The fact that we get to make an impact is important but there’s so much more that needs to get done and more impact that we can make to help save the ocean together,” Meza said.
The MMC is working to inform people about the dangers of human interaction with marine mammals through programs like their annual Safe Wildlife Viewing campaign.
The MMC’s SLO operations center is also looking for a new location, preferably in Morro Bay but is open to anywhere in SLO County. Anyone who has leads can contact them on their website.
“What we’re looking for is an area for pens, a potential facility that has offices or space for an animal hospital,” Meza said.
