What better way to start the week than by watching a heart warming video of two northern elephant seals heading back to the ocean. The two stars of this video were rescued as pups by the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, rehabilitated and just released on the beach. One of the seals is pretty gun ho and starts making a move for the ocean right away, while the other hangs back a bit. Maybe she’s thinking, hhmm those rescue digs were pretty nice and I didn’t have to dive all the time for food.
But then after a couple of sneezes, a clearer head prevails and the call of the ocean takes hold and she heads back to sea. At one point both seals look at each other, almost as if the gun ho seal is making sure the other is coming. Once reassured and after a moment of bonding, they both hit the water ready for their next adventure.
For more information about rescuing pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) check out the Pacific Marine Mammal Center website.
I am a full time volunteer there and I took this video. These two were rescued on the same day and were our first two pups of the year. Bethany was the first out followed by Shasta. Sometimes girls rule….. All most always they wait for each other and turn around and look at us unlike the sea lions that bolt out and never look back. It was such a priviledge and pleasure to take care of them and so heart warming to see them both recover and return home. Elephant seals have a hard life so I hope the best for them both. So for all your readers please come visit us, follow us on face book and watch our videos on you tube which you can access at the bottom of our website. Thank you for sharing this on your blog.
No thank you JoAnn! Thanks for all the wonderful work you are doing at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. The video made my day!