A sea lion found stuck in mud in an East Palo Alto creek was rescued Thursday night with the help of volunteers and a local towing company, a Marine Mammal Center spokeswoman said Friday.
The animal, which has been named Verbena after Verbena Drive in the area it was located, was brought in to the center around 9:30 p.m., said center spokeswoman Cheryl Reiss.
The sea lion was lethargic and underweight, but has not yet been examined by center veterinarians to determine what is wrong with it, Reiss said. Marine Mammal Center volunteers described the rescue as “challenging” and “difficult,” Reiss said, and a local towing company, A&J Towing, was called in to assist in pulling the animal from the mud.
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I’m always impressed by the work that the Marine Mammal Center does. I’d be interested in hearing about exactly what the towing company did. Sounds like a complex job.
To good job – I had a neighbor who volunteered at MMC for many years. It’s an amazing place! I’ve visited a couple of times.
I was also curious about what the tow company did, so I just called. It was A’s Towing, NOT A&J’s (there’s no A&J’s in EPA). He used his tow line to haul the sea lion up & over, after she was crated. Awesome! I hope she recovers, poor baby.
See, good stories do come out of EPA!
Hey nice, you might enjoy this – it’s a video of Stanford & EPA seniors working together to improve things for other seniors & gardening. Seniors can get local subsidies to buy fresh fruits & veggies, instead of food stamps that can be used to buy junk food. Then, they had cooking classes w/Cooking Matters. Thanks also to the awesome Collective Roots w/their amazing gardening help, check this out: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/08/seniors-help-build-a-blueprint-for-a-healthier-city/
Last year, Collective Roots sent an EPA resident to Italy for a Slow Food conference. I wish that had made headlines!!
Here’s a local news segment on eating well by growing food, featuring Collective Roots: http://www.ktvu.com/video/28772240/index.html
How much did this cost? Cheaper to put it out of misery.
Cost whom, Walter? The sea lion DID die. It has leptospirosis & was euthanized at Marin Mammal Center. It’s often treatable, but sometimes too far gone, as in this case. Very sad. You’re also pretty sad, Walter, to prefer to euth an animal rather than rescue it & exam it to see if it’s treatable. Would you prefer they kill it right there in the creek, still paying for personnel to come out & euthanize, plus haul the body away?
The natural way would have been to allow it to die and decay “naturely”.