Three elephant seals returned to the ocean Wednesday morning, Oct. 2, marking what the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro said was the final release of a busy season for the species.
The release took place on the outer shoreline of Cabrillo Beach and drew a crowd of spectators.
One of the elephant seals — named “Destiny” by the center — appeared reluctant to head back to sea at first, but ultimately made her mind up to go.
All three were all brought to the center as pups, around a month old, and needed long-term rehabilitation, with treatments for bacterial infections, and needed practice learning how to forage for themselves, Marine Mammal Care Center CEO John Warner said in a telephone interview.
“Today, one of them was pretty quick (to leave the carrier and head to the ocean),” Warner said later Wednesday, “but the other two took their time.”
For Destiny, it took about 45 minutes to make the decision.
“We don’t force them to do anything,” Warner said. “If you were only in the ocean one month, the noise, the waves and the cold are scary.”
But soon, they were all off in search of the species’ natural deep cold water habitats, which could keep them along California’s southern West Coast, where the Channel Islands offer rookeries — or they could wind up in Northern California or off the coast of Mexico, Warner said.
The animals live about 20 years and full grown males weigh up to 2 tons.
Elephant seals nearly went extinct in the 1800s, when they were hunted for blubber that was used for heating oil, Warner said, but northern elephant seals managed to survive in a remote colony off the coast of Mexico and now number about 100,000; they can stay submerged for up to two and a half hours, Warner said.
“They’re now a common West Coast species,” Warner said. “They can go pretty much anywhere they want (from Alaska to Mexico), but their feeding grounds are in deep, cold and nutrient-rich waters.”
Some 45% of the center’s patients are currently made up of emaciated elephant seal pups that become separated from their mothers before they can learn to hunt on their own. The center’s other most common patients are the sea lions seen more frequently in large numbers along the shoreline.
The other two elephant seals released Wednesday were nicknamed “Rover” and “Defender” to mark a contest that kicked off on Wednesday: The center is one of only five finalists across North America nominated for the Animal, Wildlife and Marine Welfare Award, which is presented by Disney and sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover North America. The prize is a Land Rover, a vehicle Warner said would provide much-needed transportation for the animals the center rescues along 70 miles of California coastline. The public can vote once a day online through Oct. 17.
MMCC is Los Angeles County’s only year-round marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation center. The facility rescues more marine mammals per mile of coastline than any other organization in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s stranding network, officials said.
All the animals the MMCC nurses back to health are released with flipper tags — on the right flipper for females and the left flipper for males — so that those who monitor the stranding network can see if an animal strands or travels anywhere along the West Coast.
In November, the Marine Mammal Care Center released two rehabilitated sea lions named Holly and Joy — appropriately so, given the season — at Cabrillo Beach.
Toxic algae bloom outbreaks in the ocean, which sent Holly and Joy into rehab, along with many others, cause especially tough years for ocean rescue crews who work to assist the affected marine wildlife.
Going forward, additional space will be needed for the work, Warner said, adding that talks are still underway with the Los Angeles Unified School District, which has some adjacent property near the current center.
But the center, Warner said, “would be happy to consider other options in other locations as well, as long as the economics work.”
“Our biggest need is space for more pools,” Warner said. “And also for more (public) visitation space because we’re just as committed to helping people understand why this is important. But we’re limited by space.”
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