Marine Mammal Center marks 10,000 releases

POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE, Calif. (AP) -- Two juvenile California sea lions paused for a moment at the edge of the sea, each raising their whiskered faces toward the silvery water before sliding in to freedom.

For the Marine Mammal Center crew standing behind the rehabilitated pinnipeds on Thursday, it was a significant day: rescued sea lion No. 10,000, nicknamed Milestone, and 10,001, Zodiac Girl, had been nursed back to health and sent back to the wild where they belong.

"There's always some attachment. There's always some animal that captures your heart," said Shelbi Stoudt, the center staffer who organizes these regular releases. "It's a bittersweet feeling because you're sending them back home but you also don't get to see them anymore."

This photo shows the orange tag placed on rehabilitated animals. We see orange tags occasionally on the beach at Piedras Blancas. More photos are on the HuffPo site linked above and at The Marine Mammal Center site.

The count to 10,000 includes all releases, elephant seals as well. The fact is, about 97 percent of the mammals rescued are sea lions, so the numbers aren't all that far off.

20 Important Marine Conservation Sites

From sea otters to blue whales, marine mammals are under stress from climate change, ocean acidification, hunting and other threats. Researchers have identified 20 important sites around the world where they say conservation efforts should concentrate.

Marine mammals are widely distributed in the oceans and some freshwater locations, but 11 of the conservation sites are home to creatures found nowhere else, according to the study led by Sandra Pompa of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

The scientists' abstract states:

We identified 20 global key conservation sites for all marine (123) and freshwater (6) mammal species based on their geographic ranges. We created geographic range maps for all 129 species and a Geographic Information System database for a 46,184 1° x 1° grid-cells, ∼10,000-km². Patterns of species richness, endemism, and risk were variable among all species and species groups. Interestingly, marine mammal species richness was correlated strongly with areas of human impact across the oceans. Key conservation sites in the global geographic grid were determined either by their species richness or by their irreplaceability or uniqueness, because of the presence of endemic species. Nine key conservation sites, comprising the 2.5% of the grid cells with the highest species richness, were found, mostly in temperate latitudes, and hold 84% of marine mammal species. In addition, we identified 11 irreplaceable key conservation sites, six of which were found in freshwater bodies and five in marine regions. These key conservation sites represent critical areas of conservation value at a global level and can serve as a first step for adopting global strategies with explicit geographic conservation targets for Marine Protected Areas.

The nine sites picked for their species richness were along the coasts of Baja California, much of the eastern coast of the Americas (the Atlantic coast of the U.S. and including coastal areas of Cuba, Hispaniola, Colombia and Venezuela), Peru, Argentina, Northwestern Africa, South Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Currently the most endangered marine mammal is the vaquita, a porpoise that lives in the northern section of the Gulf of California, Pompa said. They look peaceful in this picture from www.worldwidewildlife.blogspot.com.

The coast of California is such a special place. Our elephant seals are not endangered but they are precious.

Healing properties of blubber

Discovery News reports:

When it comes to bouncing back from injuries, dolphins may be a step ahead of most mammals, including humans.

In fact, the same fatty layer that insulates them also lends itself to faster recoveries from wounds. Michael Zasloff of Georgetown University suggests in a recent journal letter that studying dolphin blubber may yield insights into better medical treatments for skin injuries in the future.

Perhaps it's true for elephant seals, too. I've wondered how seals could survive the horrific injuries they sustain and live to tell the tale. This one who slept peacefully on the beach at Piedras Blancas must have been nearly bitten in half.

Heading for the beach

Elephant seal 23N-37597 is heading directly for California. It's amazing that they can navigate so accurately.

This adult male announced his arrival to the others on the beach last week. Welcome back!

Community Supported Fishery

San Luis Obispo County is one of the few communities to have a Community Supported Fishery. Margie Hurd organized it. She started with shareholders who bought only five pounds of fish a week. She now supplies 80 pounds weekly.

Supporting local fishermen is a good way to strengthen the community as well as help the oceans. Local fishermen with a personal connection to their customers are responsible fishermen who recognize the need for a healthy ocean to keep them in business.

A new online resource called LocalCatch.org is for consumers, advocates, and fishermen
interested in or already involved with community supported fisheries (CSFs).

LocalCatch.org is an online network that links community members to CSFs.
The network seeks to increase the visibility of CSFs. It assists individuals and organizations that need support envisioning, designing, and implementing locally-relevant businesses that work towards a triple bottom line -- people, planet, profits.

Many organizations including Sea Grant and the National Agri-Marketing Association have played an important role in the success of CSFs around the country. Without their efforts, the idea for this site wouldn't have come to be. Tell the network where you want to see the next CSF!

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/LocalCatchorg/220685781288344?sk=wall

Seals heading south

An adult male elephant seal who was tagged, #23N-37597, at Ano Nuevo in March has reported in from the Aleutians. He's headed south and is presently crossing the open Pacific Ocean in a relatively straight route from the Aleutians where he spent the past few months back to California. On July 13, he checked in again.

Perhaps he'll come to Piedras Blancas instead of Ano Nuevo and join this male, announcing his arrival in the surf.

Elephants on the beach

The adult males are arriving. The early arrivals are on the beach and most of the youngsters have left. It's a transition time when fewer animals are on the beach. Some visitors complain, as if a couple hundred huge seals are a disappointment.

This big boy looks peaceful. He's not actually sleeping among the flowers -- those are above him on the bluff. I enjoyed watching him snore, his nose shuddering as he snorted out a breath.