SEA LION RESCUES SAVE US ALL
Save a sea lion and save yourself. Sea lions are considered sentinel species, which means they’re used as indicators of ocean health. They’ve been stranding and dying at unprecedented rates due to human encroachment & climate change. Their rescues also help save ocean ecosystems -- and ultimately the whole planet.
ONE SPECIAL SEA LION BABY
Something extraordinary and beautiful happened on an ordinary day of surfing in the waters off Santa Barbara, in California. A wild sea lion pup spontaneously jumped up on Stephanie Schechter’s surfboard.
Schechter, a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, often surfs on just off the beach behind campus. Sea lions are a common sight. But one day, a pup, likely abandoned by its mother, needed help. It jumped up on Schechter’s board and immediately began to nuzzle & cuddle.
Clearly in need of help, Schechter came to the rescue. She reached out to the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center. The pup was saved. Schechter named it Winifred the Pinniped.
Find out more about sea lion rescues on the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center Facebook page.
CHANNEL ISLAND SEA LIONS
It began one day as a simple routine walk on the beach with her daughter, in Silver Strand, California, when Jennifer Levine came upon a sea lion in dire straits. She knew enough to call the sea lion rescue hotline.
The experience and her new knowledge about the plight of sea lions in the region, inspired Levine to volunteer for the rescue organization. She helped to nurse this rescue animal back to health and participated in its release back into the wild.
Levine is the stranding operations and animal care coordinator for the nonprofit Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute, which rescues marine mammals in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
In the past few years, there has been a record numbers of sea lion strandings, due to warmer oceans, altering the natural food supply. Many pups have become emaciated and dehydrated. Rescue organizations have been overwhelmed.
CIMW has already rescued and treated 267 pinnipeds in 2016, which is 6 times more than our annual average!
If you want to volunteer, check out Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute.
You can also adopt a sea lion at the World Wildlife Fund adoption program. Learn more here.
Read more about Beautiful Rescues in Beautiful Rescues Ripple Out To Save The World Now.
And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.
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IMAGE CREDITS:
- Image: by Stephanie Schechter. “Winifred the Pinniped.”
- Image: by Stephanie Schechter. “Winifred the Pinniped.”
- Image: Courtesy of Stephanie Schechter. “Winifred the Pinniped & Stephanie Schechter .”
- Image: Courtesy of Stephanie Schechter. “Winifred the Pinniped & Stephanie Schechter .”
- Image: Courtesy of Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute. “Rescued Sea Lion Pups.”
- Image: Courtesy of Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute. “Rescued Sea Lion Pups.”
- Image: Courtesy of Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute. “Rescued Sea Lion Pup.”
- Image: Courtesy of Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute. “Rescued Sea Lion Pup.”
- Image: Courtesy of Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute. “Northern Elephant Seal Pups.”
- Image: by Angela Carpinacci Francesco Lupi. Courtesy of World Wildlife Fund. “Sea Lions.”
- Image: Courtesy of Island Conservation. “Juvenile Galapagos Sea Lion.”
- Image: by BN App - Download now!
- Image: Courtesy of sulfababy. “Sea Lion.”
