Northern elephant seal Elefante was in poor condition when he was rescued from a beach in Central California. Our trained responders reported Elefante was thin yet alert and found with tar and wounds on his body.

Because of his age and size, our veterinarians tube fed Elefante with a special “fish smoothie” formula until he was ready for fish school. In fish school, specially trained volunteers used techniques like dragging fish through the water to encourage Elefante’s natural instincts to track, catch and compete for fish. He spent about three months at our hospital rehabilitating and gaining strength.

Before Elefante was released, our experts fitted him with a special satellite tag to track his movements once he was back in the wild.