The Center in the News 2012
December 28, 2012
One Whale's Silent Killer Inspires a Thought-Provoking Art Exhibit at The Marine Mammal Center - San Francisco Sentinel
Guests visiting The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, CA, throughout 2013 can experience The Ghost Below, a thought-provoking, year-long art exhibition that explores the harmful effects of marine debris. Throughout the year different multi-sensory art installations will reveal the ocean’s beauty, connectivity and fragility, and in turn, inspire people to make the ocean a healthier place for all.
December 25, 2012
Malnourished Juvenile Sea Lion Nursed Back to Helath and Released at Rodeo Beach - Marin IJ
Keekee, a juvenile sea lion, was released back to the ocean Monday at Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands by the Marine Mammal Center.
December 25, 2012
Volunteers Needed at The Marine Mammal Center's Morro Bay Operations - The Rock
The Marine Mammal Center headquarters in Sausalito is a full-service veterinary hospital monitoring 600 miles of coastline from Mendocino County to San Luis Obispo with a network of hundreds of volunteers. Animals that strand on the beaches of San Luis Obispo draw the rapid response of the Center’s outpost on the coast in Morro Bay, and while it is a satellite office, Morro Bay is vital to the organization’s southern reach.
December 17, 2012
Do Monk Seals Have a Prayer? - National Wildlife Magazine
FOR GENERATIONS, HAWAIIANS HAVE CALLED THE MONK SEAL ‘īlioholoikauaua, or “dog running in the rough sea,” a name this critically endangered marine mammal has certainly earned. Scientists and volunteers who now keep vigil over the seals are trying to outmaneuver the species’ extinction in a rapidly changing and sometimes hostile environment by using a range of tactics–including relocating some seals to what they predict will be safer shores.
December 1, 2012
The Ghost Below Exhibit Focuses a Light on Ocean Trash - Mill Valley Patch
The haunting specter of a ghost has struck terror in the human imagination for millennia. The 19th century California writer Ambrose Bierce described a ghost as "the outward and visible sign of an inward fear." A ghost is even more terrifying when it appears out of the great unknown, the deepest, darkest places of our inner psyche, like an unpleasant memory that we would prefer to ignore or forget. All of this comes together as a great metaphor for local artists Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang in their exhibit The Ghost Below, which opened recently at The Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands.
November 20, 2012
Local Researchers on Alert to Find Mutant Viruses - KTVU-TV
As new evolving viruses becoming more dangerous, local researchers are in a race against time to discover the mutations and protect the human race. There is a new flu virus on the east coast that is attacking seals and sea lions. This virus -- called H3N8 -- was discovered after taking blood specimens from about two hundred seals on the east coast. Researchers say it evolved from the bird-influenza virus. Veterinarian Dr. Bill Van Bonn from the Marine Mammal Center is vigilant when any animal arrives at the center. Viruses can adapt and jump from animal to humans.
November 20, 2012
Silent Whale Killer Being Transformed into Art to Highlight Ocean Trash Issue - Marin IJ
In a barn in Forest Knolls artists Judith and Richard Lang look over heavy, synthetic fish-nets that were pulled from the belly of a sperm whale that washed up near McClures Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore in 2008.It was the more than 450 pounds of nets that got stuck in the whale's digestive tract that ultimately killed it.
November 14, 2012
Baby Seal Visits Burlingame - San Mateo Daily Journal
Little Gobbler, a northern fur seal pup, decided to take a trot across Airport Boulevard, climb up some steps and take a nap at the wastewater treatment plant in Burlingame Tuesday morning.
Novmeber 13, 2012
In Unpoliced Oceans, Marine Mammal Shootings Go Unsolved - Bay Nature magazine
Whirlybird has survived against all odds. In July, the male sea lion took a bullet to the head and landed on the shore of Corcoran Lagoon in Santa Cruz. Metal fragments had scattered throughout his head, destroying his eyesight.
November 13, 2012
Sea Lion and 5-year-old Form Frienship through Aquarium glass - TodayShow.com
Every month, 5-year-old Sean Goodman plays a little game with one of the sea lions at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif. He traces a gentle arc with his dad’s keys along the curved glass of the animal’s display, and the sea lion eagerly chases after their glittery trail, like a puppy playing catch.
November 5, 2012
Hospital Rescues Injured Seals - Yahoo! Animal Nation
Bridget Marquardt recently spent a day with veterinarian, Dr. Bill Van Bonn, to learn about some special patients and what goes into caring for them.
October 19, 2012
California Sea Lion, Blonde Bomber, Returns to the Ocean after Sea trash Nearly Kills Him - NY Daily News
The Marine Mammal Center saved a California sea lion, the Blonde Bomber, in San Francisco Bay by removing sea trash that would have choked him, before returning him to the ocean.
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October 18, 2012
Injured PIER 39 Sea Lion Returend to the Ocean - KTVU-TV
A sea lion that was rescued from San Francisco's Pier 39 after being found entangled in plastic last week is safe at sea Thursday afternoon, a Marine Mammal Center spokesman said.
October 18, 2012
Sea Lion Released at Rodeo Beach after Becoming Entangled in Ocean Trash - San Jose Mercury News/Marin IJ
A sea lion dubbed the Blonde Bomber was released Thursday at Rodeo Beach after more than a week of treatment at the Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands.
October 10, 2012
Sea Lion Rescued at San Francisco's PIER 39 - Huffington Post
A sea lion that was seen with packing strap wrapped around its neck has been rescued from a floating platform in San Francisco.
October 10, 2012
Tangled Sea Lion Rescued at Pier 39 - San Francisco Chronicle
Hundreds of tourists cheered at Pier 39 on Tuesday as marine mammal rescuers captured a young pinniped that had a plastic packing band cinched around its neck.
October 9, 2012
Entangled Sea Lion at Pier 39 Captured - KGO-TV
A rescue crew has captured one of two sea lions were spotted entangled in debris at Pier 39.
October 7, 2012
Marin Snapshot: Stoudt has big job at Marine Mammal Center - Marin IJ
Shelbi Stoudt is the rescue coordinator at the Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands. She grew up in the ranching community of Alturas in Modoc County and spent some summers working at Vallejo's Marine World Africa USA in her youth.
September 21, 2012
New hope for rare Hawaiian monk seals - SF Gate
It may seem strange that spotting more of an endangered species should be a cause for concern, but when it comes to the rare Hawaiian monk seal, one of the world's most threatened creatures, the growing number that haul out on popular beaches or come into contact with fishing boats are doubly worrisome.
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September 21, 2012
Cousteau comes to Marin and visits Marine Mammal Center, helps release sea lions - Marin IJ
Jean-Michel Cousteau spent Thursday morning at Rodeo Beach watching as three sea lions that had been treated at the nearby Marine Mammal Center were released into the Pacific Ocean.Given his family's legacy, it was fitting he was there.
September 20, 2012
Cousteau stops by Bay Area marine center - NBC 11
Jean Michel Cousteau visited the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito Thursday, to educate kids about the environment.
September 16, 2012
To the Rescue - West Hawaii Today
Critically endangered sick, injured and young Hawaiian monk seals in need of care will soon be able to turn to the North Kona Coast for a helping hand.
September 15, 2012
$3.2M Hawaii Island hospital will be Devoted to Monk Seals - Honolulu Star Advertiser
Hawaiian monk seals can't get a break. The animals often become entangled in abandoned fishing nets or accidentally caught on fishing hooks. As pups they sometimes have a hard time competing with sharks and large jacks, or ulua, for food.
September 14, 2012
First California Otter to Survive Being Covered in Oil Has a Pup - Associated Press
Just three years after she was found covered in oil and near death, a California sea otter called Olive is a new mom — another milestone for the first otter to survive an oiling in the state.
September 14, 2012
Hawaiian Monk Seals Get Own Hospital on Big Island - Associated Press
A California nonprofit organization is bringing Hawaiian monk seals some rare good news. On Saturday, The Marine Mammal Center will break ground on a hospital for the seals.
September 13, 2012
Rescued Oiled Otter Amazes with Birth - San Francisco Chronicle
Call her Olive, the miracle mom. Olive, a 4-year-old California sea otter, has amazed researchers by becoming the first sea otter not only to survive a dunking in oil but then also go on to deliver a healthy pup.
August 16, 2012
Field Trip: Episode 54 - The Marine Mammal Center - Radio Sausalito
Host Mitchell Field chats with The Marine Mammal Center's Adam Ratner about the Center, it's mission, volunteers and out-reach program.
August 15, 2012
Sea Lion with gunshot Wound Recovering at The Marine Mammal Center - Huffington Post
A California sea lion blinded by a gunshot wound is recovering at Sausalito's Marine Mammal Center six weeks after it was found in Santa Cruz.
August 13, 2012
Santa Cruz Sea Lion Blinded by Gunshot Wound Recovering at The Marine Mammal Center -San Jose Mercury News
A young sea lion found last month with a gunshot wound to the face is recovering at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.
Whirlybird, a young California sea lion, was found listless and unresponsive on a set of stairs leading to the beach near Corcoran Lagoon on July 2. The Marine Mammal Center sent a team to rescue it.
August 1, 2012
Lost Northern Fur Seal Shows Up on Hawaii Beach - Time/Science & Space
A seal that would normally live in waters around the Aleutian Islands and California has shown up thousands of miles away on a beach in Hawaii, officials said Wednesday.
July 24, 2012
Blind Sea Lion Doing Well After Being Shot in Face - People magazine online
Whirlybird, a California sea lion, was shot in the face by an unknown assailant and found stranded on a public Santa Cruz, Calif., beach in July. The malnourished marine mammal was lethargic when approached by rescuers.
July 20, 2012
Sea lion Shot in the Eye is Recovering - San Francisco Chronicle
Slightly underweight, he seemed unaffected by people and other distractions that would usually spook an animal of the wild. Rescuers noted the yearling’s damaged eyes — the right eye was missing and the left eye cloudy — but it wasn’t until the veterinary team at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito put him through an x-ray that they realized what was wrong.
June 28, 2012
Halftime the Sea Lion Getting Along Swimmingly at the Bronx Zoo - NY Daily News
Orphaned sea creature got too cozy with humans to make it in the sea, wildlife experts say, but has found the family she was looking for in NYC.
June 25, 2012
Rare Whale Washes Up on West Marin Beach - Marin IJ
A federally endangered fin whale washed up dead on a West Marin beach after apparently being struck by a ship, officials said Monday.
June 25, 2012
Point Reyes: Fin Whale Dies from Ship Strike - KTVU-TV
Marine bilogists announce plan to reduce ship strikes on whales
June 15, 2012
Plan an Ocean-Friendly "Staycation" - KQED-FM Quest
There are plenty of eco-friendly hotels and resorts out there, and more power to them. But my goal was to seek out more personal ocean interactions that support conservation efforts either directly or at least financially.
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May 24, 2012
Students Dive for Knowledge During Oceans Week - Half Moon Bay Review
Deirdre Denmon, an AmeriCorps volunteer for The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, conducts the Whale Bus lab for Farallone View Elementary School students on Thursday. It was just one of many events during Oceans Week.
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May 16, 2012
Gray Whale Rescued from Crab Pot Lines by Whale Entanglement Team - KWMR-FM
Marine Mammal Center volunteer Kathi Koontz tells George Clyde that two sets of crab gear and a rope through its mouth held the whale until freed from the entanglement with a single cut.
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May 15, 2012
Marine Mammal Center Helps Free Gray Whale Off of Dillon Beach - Marin IJ
Rescuers from the Marine Mammal Center and federal agencies freed a young gray whale entangled in crab pot lines near Dillon Beach on Monday afternoon.
May 3, 2012
Researchers Test California Sea Lion Kidney's for Disease - The Daily Astorian
When men and women in orange wet suits showed up at the East End Mooring Basin and started prodding at California sea lions caught in floating pens, some people wondered whether the mammals were being executed. Instead, they were researchers from the Marine Mammal Center were taking urine and blood samples to test for a pathogen that causes kidney disease.
“We’ve been doing sampling from Southern California up to Washington,” said Denise Greig, a researcher with the center in Sausalito, Calif. “We do have to sedate them for the urine sample, because it involves a catheter.”
May 3, 2012
Alcatraz Sea Lion Released by The Marine Mammal Center - Huffington Post
A baby sea lion pup made headlines when he was found starving and disoriented in a dangerous commuter ferry crossing spot near the Alcatraz Island last month. After a valiant effort, rescuers at Sausalito's Marine Mammal Center captured the embattled pup, and gave him the only name they saw fit: Al Catraz.
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April 19, 2012
Elephant Seal Birth Defects Due to Near Extinction - San Francisco Chronicle
With her dewy brown eyes, velvety fur and glossy whiskers, TVA is a lovely specimen of an elephant seal.
Except for the hunchback.
The month-old pinniped - rescued in Tennessee Cove, part of Marin County's Tennessee Valley, and now undergoing treatment at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito - has an extra vertebra in her spine, bulging into a pronounced hump on her blubbery back.
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April 18, 2012
Starving Elephant Seal Pups at The Marine Mammal Center - CNN/KPIX-TV
Officials at The Marine Mammal Center say about twice as many starving elephant seal pups have turned up this year.
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April 6, 2012
Elephant Seals Invade The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito - NBC 11
The belching, screeching, wailing sounds filled the air of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito Friday. Visitors snickered at the rude blasts bounding across the concrete pens where dozens of elephant seal pups were recuperating.
View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.
April 6, 2012
Sickly Sea Lion and Seals Recover at The Marine Mammal Center - KTVU-TV
He was rescued from the rock and almost didn't survive! This unusual patient wasn't an escapee, he was just a little starving California sea lion.
April 6, 2012
Sea Lion Pup Rescued from Alcatraz - San Jose Mercury News
Marin County's Marine Mammal Center has been caring for a sea lion pup that was rescued from a dock on Alcatraz Island two weeks ago, spokesman Jim Oswald said. The barely 1-year-old sea lion, named "Al Catraz" by the center, was spotted on the dock on March 21 and arrived at the marine mammal center severely underweight.
March 31, 2012
Short on Funding - Letters to the editor - San Luis Obispo Tribune
Annually, The Marine Mammal Center treats hundreds of sick or injured marine mammals along the California coast, with a large number of patients coming from San Luis Obispo County. Nationwide, marine mammal rehabilitation facilities, primarily nonprofits, are coordinated through NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and respond to more than 5,000 animals each year.
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March 19, 2012
Seal Pupping Season - NPR - KQED-FM
Harbor and elephant seals along the California coast have begun their pupping season, and experts with Marin County's Marine Mammal Center are urging people not to disturb seal pups they spot on the beach. Instead, the Center asks people to call their 24-hour hotline, so experts can determine if the seals are sick or abandoned.
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January 26, 2012
Marine Mammals Head Back to Sea - San Luis Obispo Tribune
Rascal, a rare Guadalupe fur seal yearling, and Beige, a California sea lion juvenile, headed for the sea Wednesday at Leffingwell Landing in Cambria after being treated at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. Beige had been spotted Jan. 7 by equestrians riding in Montaña de Oro State Park. Rascal was rescued a day later from Coleman Beach in Bodega Bay.
Scientists later determined that Beige was ill and injured. Rascal was malnourished.
According to Shelbi Stoudt, stranding manager for the center, Rascal is only the 48th Guadalupe fur seal admitted to the mammal center’s clinic since 1975. The species is found on Guadalupe Island in the Channel Islands.
January 19, 2012
Monk Seal Hospital Closer to Reality - The Garden Island
LIHU‘E — Misunderstood by some, hated by few and loved by many, Hawaiian monk seals have an experienced and influential ally on the Mainland who is willing to add a milestone step in the fight against the extinction of Hawai‘i’s official state mammal.
The Marine Mammal Center, based in Sausalito, Calif., received two anonymous donations at the beginning of the year totaling $650,000, to be used toward a new Hawaiian Monk Seal Healthcare Facility in Kailua-Kona.
January 13, 2012
Elephant Seal 'Mr. Elusive' Caught on Point Reyes Beach, Strap Removed from Neck - Marin IJ
After two years of failed attempts, biologists in the Point Reyes National Seashore captured an elusive northern elephant seal this week and removed a thick white packing strap that had become cinched around its neck.
January 3, 2012
Whale Washed Ashore at Remote Beach in Point Reyes - Marin Scope
High tides are preventing scientists from reaching a dead whale that washed up in a remote part of the Point Reyes National Seashore earlier this week.
The Minke whale, which researchers think might be a female, was reported on Tuesday in an area near Alamere Falls, said Marine Mammal Center spokesman Jim Oswald.
A team from the California Academy of Sciences and the Marine Mammal Center attempted to reach the whale on Thursday, but the carcass was too far out in the water and the tide was too high, Oswald said. In addition, it was in an advanced state of decomposition, he said.
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Save Our Seals. Save Ourselves.
We all share a connection with marine mammals and the ocean! "Save Our Seals. Save Ourselves" is a campaign to inspire all of us to care about marine mammals because we all share and rely upon a vast resource - the oceans.
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Communications Inquiries:
Jim Oswald
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