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First Elephant Seal Pup of 2012 Arrives at The Center

Faith, elephant seal, the Marine Mammal Center

Faith, the first elephant seal pup admitted in 2012, rests at The Marine Mammal Center. Here, you can see how he is molting his "black coat" which will then be replaced with a sleek gray one.

February 16, 2012

Pupping season - the time of year when Northern elephant seal and harbor seal pups are born along the CA coast - has officially begun! On February 15, our volunteers came to the rescue of an abandoned and malnourished black coat (term that means an elephant seal that is less than 6 weeks old and still has his original birth "coat") at Lawson's Landing in northern Marin County. The young pup was named "Faith" at the rescue site, but upon examination - Faith turns out to really be a male who weighs 34kg (a little over 74 lb) and is alert and very vocal! In addition to being underweight (elephant seal pups can gain as much as 10 lb a day while weaning) he has an injury to his right eye.

Veterinarians tube feed electrolytes to Faith to keep her hydrated.

Veterinarians have started the little guy on electrolytes and will soon begin the process of tube-feeding him a milkshake-like formula made of ground herring and water. Once he's stronger, they will offer him whole fish and get him nice and fat and ready to return to the wild.

Related:

Learn about The Marine Mammal Center's Leave Seals Be campaign

Learn more about elephant seals

Learn how you can prevent ocean trash

Learn how you can support The Marine Mammal Center

Adopt-a-Seal today and support future patient care!

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