A baby harbor seal that somehow got stranded in the water at the Palo Alto harbor was rescued by Palo Alto Animal Services on Tuesday, April 9.
The 14-pound pup was caught up against the harbor’s flood gate at high tide, Animal Services Officer William Warrior said.
A hiker heard the pup’s cries as the seal bobbed up and down near the concrete wall, its head periodically disappearing under the water.
“We had a concern about the way the baby was struggling,” Warrior said. “We were worried about him possibly drowning.”
Climbing down the flood gate, Warrior and another officer lifted the black-and-silver pup out of the water using a net and brought the seal to the Palo Alto office of Peninsula Humane Society’s Wildlife Rescue Center.
From there, the seal was transported to the Marine Mammal Center at about 5:30 p.m.for further care.
Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, said the female pup, which they’ve named Floodgate Dolly, is about five weeks old. Harbor seal pups are weaned from their mothers when they’re between four and six weeks. The pup probably came from Mowry Slough in Newark, one of the nearby locations where harbor seals gather in groups, he said.
The pup is the first harbor seal from Palo Alto that the center has received since 1991, he said.
Floodgate Dolly appears uninjured. She is resting in the intensive-care unit and has a roommate to help bring her stress level down, Oswald said.
“She’s alert but a little emaciated, and she’s vocal,” he said.
The pup will probably be tube fed until she is eating fish on her own. Eventually she could be placed back in the wild, he said.
Harbor seal pups can become stranded when they are spooked while foraging for food or when they have an underlying problem or illness, Oswald said.
“Nine out of 10 times it’s because they were spooked by humans or dogs,” he said.
It is pupping season, and the center advises that people don’t pick up stranded seals if they are found.
“They might still be weaning, and you don’t want to separate the pup from mom,” he said.
The center, which covers marine-mammal rescue over a 600-mile area from Mendocino to San Luis Obispo counties, is currently inundated with marine wildlife. Food shortages around the Channel Islands in southern California have overloaded rescue centers there.
The National Marine Fisheries Service estimated 1,000 young California sea lions have become stranded. California sea lions wean at six to nine months of age, Oswald said.
The Marine Mammal Center is helping them out and has double the normal number it takes in this year, he said.
“The fish are not there for whatever reason. There have been a lot of mass strandings,” he said.
The problem could shift to here as the sea lions naturally progress north.
“We’re not out of the woods yet. We may see more of these strandings here,” he said.
VIDEO: Watch a video by Warrior explaining how the seal pup was rescued.
By Jocelyn Dong
By Jocelyn Dong
By Jocelyn Dong
Anyone know how often do seals get this far south in the bay? We walk out in the baylands a lot and have never seen one.
I hope this cute little guy pulls through. Where is this flood gate? In the Baylands?
I think that’s the flood gate near Byxbee Park
Byxbee – ok. Thanks parent.
Local harbor seals are birthed in late winter/ early spring across the bay in Mowry Slough. She probably just recently left her mother, swam into a current, and was not strong enough to fight it. The current probably carried her here, to Mayfield Slough at the edge of Byxbee Park.
It is rare for a pup to be seen in this area, but seals are occasionally sighted in Mayfield Slough.
Does anybody want to outsource this activity?
Way to go William! Thanks again for all that you do for the animals. This poor baby now has a chance at survival thanks to the nice person who called AC, & to you for pulling her out. Let’s hope she fares better than the poor sea lion in the creek.
What the article does not say is that this is a pro-development seal pup and is being groomed for a seat on the planning commission….
Thanks for the laugh, Mark! “ )
Nice to read a “feel good” story for a change.
The “feel good” part evaporates when I get to the “Food shortages . . . have overloaded rescue centers” and “The fish are not there for whatever reason” parts.
What is Rand Paul doing with our harbor seal pup ? 😉
Great to see the words “Palo Alto Harbor” again in the press! I remember rescuing a seal pup in 1976 when at the Palo Alto Harbor at the Sea Scout docks. Same drill, heard the pup crying, rescued her, and turned over to the local fish and game who transfered same to a marine wild life unit. The pup had been brought down by a powerful storm the night before. Glad to see some pups are still saved – all these years later.
Bill Warrior is a great public servant.
A number of years ago, on a Saturday evening, we had a birthday party for my son. Silly, high energy 5 and 6 year old boys ran downstairs to our basement, and encountered a skunk.
Young animal, clearly confused, and perhaps sick.
At a time and day that most of us are otherwise engaged, Bill spent a couple hours coaxing this poor little skunk into a cage, put it into his truck, and that was that.
I recall sending a letter to the Police Chief about Bill’s efforts on our family’s behalf, and actually got a letter back from the Chief!
Palo Alto is blessed to have Bill working on our community’s behalf.