Another learning opportunity through WMMSN

As a volunteer with the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network, I have a lot of neat opportunities to learn new and interesting things related to our work of helping with stranded marine mammals. 

This week was no exception.  On Saturday I, along with other volunteers from WMMSN and Northwest Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, attended a training class to learn how to triage for distressed seal pups. This training was taught by Penny Harner, a staff rehabilitator from Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.  

You may remember Wolf Hollow from my post about the release of Chitenango, our little seal pup rescued from Lummi Island last year.

Chitenango when found on the beach at Lummi Island

Chitenango and friends being released at
San Juan Island after rehab at Wolf Hollow.

Penny taught us how to administer some basic first aid for instances when we might need to keep a seal pup for a short time en route to a rehabilitation facility.  She presented us with all kinds of information on how we could best help a distressed seal pup including housing, wound care, administering fluids if necessary & heating and cooling a pup. 

What a fantastic opportunity this was to learn more about the care of seal pups.  I'm so glad that I am able to volunteer to help and learn so much along the way.

As a member of the general public, should you come across a stranded marine mammal, remember it is against the law to approach them or harass them in any way. Remember, your strolling through their natural habitat!  The best thing to do is stay back, keep dogs away and observe.  If you notice that the mammal is in distress, contact your marine mammal stranding network and pass on as much information as you can note that might help the volunteers from the network to locate and assist the mammal.

P.S.  Seal pup season is fast approaching and the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network will once again be busy responding to seal pup calls.  Now is a great time to help support our efforts. Donations of any amount help us to purchase equipment such as carriers, ropes and other items needed for stranding responses and to pay for trainings like the one I attended this week.  Donations $25 and receive your very own Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network Tshirt. 

WMMSN.org

Are you guys tired of hearing about my favorite volunteer organization, Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network?  I hope not!  If you're an avid reader of my blog, facebook or twitter page, you already know that I am a volunteer responder for WMMSN.  What you may not already know is that I also volunteer as the webmaster for the site.  It gives me one more way that I can help to spread the word about helping distressed and stranded marine mammals in my local area.


The springtime is historically a busy time for stranding calls.  This is the time of year when our local harbor seals bring their young pups ashore while momma seal goes fishing durring the day.  Typically the mother seal will come back in the night and feed her pup, but sometimes mother is unable to return and little seal pups quickly become dehydrated without intervention.  That's where our group comes into the picture.  We receive calls from all over the county about stranded pups and we respond and assess the situation.   We also respond for other marine mammal calls such as porpoises that may have injuries, or even deceased mammals like the dead Gray Whale we responded to last year.


You may already know, but the little seal pup in my banner atop this page is a response we were called to last summer.  This little pup was stranded for several days on a beach here on Lummi Island.  After we realized that the mother was not returning to feed him at night, we were able to take him to Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation one of the rehab centers that we work with and he was nursed back to health and then released back into the wild to live out his life


Winter time is a slower time for calls, although dead animals can wash ashore at any time of year, and our responders will go out on calls occasionally throughout the winter.   But being a slower season, we are using this time to put our focus on fundraising.  As a non-profit and all volunteer organization, we are in need of financial support to help us help the marine mammals.  Money we raise now will provide the neccessary supplies when we are called out to respond throughout the year.


I've just updated our home page with an option to donate and help our cause.  It's a secure donation through paypal.  You might notice I've added it on the sidebar of this blog as well.  If you are a supporter of this great effort, please consider making a donation large or small.  Every bit helps us to do our job and respond to marine mammals throughout our county.


You may also like to support us by becoming a facebook fan.  We send out periodic updates to your wall and the show of support is encouraging to all of our volunteer members.


Thank you all for your support!
~Christi

Seal Tagging Training

Oh boy!  Looking out at Hales passage at the Whatcom Cheif, I could see it was going to be a bumpy ride.  On a day like this I might normally reconsider a trip to town.  Not this time.  This time I was on a mission.  I was heading to town to learn how to tag seals and that would be worth a wild ride on the ferry.

As a volunteer responder for Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network I have great opportunities to learn new and interesting things having to do with marine mammals. 

In this last year I've learned about Grey whales, wildlife rehab at Wolf Hollow, harbor porpoise,  and now I was going to learn how to tag a seal pup with a special wildlife tag.  How cool!

These numbered tags are used to help identify a marine mammal

 that has been responded to by the stranding network

We learned what items we would need to add to our response kits for

tagging  including betedine to clean the seal flipper and the equipment.

We had a great trainer, Joe Gaydos, DVM PhD. Joe showed us how to properly handle a live seal pup for tagging and gave us some hands on experience using the tagger. I won't get into the "how to" detail here. If you are interested in these sort of trainings and helping marine mammals you may want to become a volunteer responder too. 

Upon completion of our training, Joe gave each of us a lovely map from the SeaDoc Society of the recently recognised Salish Sea 

I love volunteering!  In giving a small bit of myself and my time to WMMSN to help marine mammals and their cause I've gained so much more.

Having a porpoise in life

Original posting
Friday, September 4, 2009


I live on an island in the Puget Sound and enjoy a close connection with wildlife and nature even here in my own back yard.One of my passions in life is marine conservation. The oceans and the life within them are so important to our lives here on land.

Early this year I began to volunteer with a local group the Whatcom Marine Mammal Standing Network (http://www.wmmsn.org/ ) Through my association with this group I've been able to take part in several very interesting interactions with marine mammals, some alive, others found dead at the beach.

About a month ago we had a stranded seal pup here on the island. I got to go and observe this cute little creature. After 2 days of observation the pup was taken to a local rehab facility where he will be cared for until he is able to fend for himself. Hopefully he will be released back into the wild this fall. This stranding call had a happy ending, but that's not always the case.

Most recently we had a call for a small harbor porpoise that had died and washed ashore at the NW side of Lummi Island. It was collected by a volunteer and brought in to be examined to determine the cause of it's death. A lot of information can be gathered from a deceased marine mammal that has washed ashore.

Members of our group who were interested were invited to observe and participate in the necropsy which took place yesterday. I was able to attend. WOW! I learned so much.

Back in my younger days I was quite squeemish about death and so even back in high school I opted out of biology to avoid having to do any kind of disections. These days, I find I'm not squeemish and more curious to learn about this sort of thing.

It was very interesting to see how this process works. The carcass was methodically examined, measured and recorded. Samples were taken for various researchers who are gathering data related to marine mammals and our environment.

As the porpoise was examined I was able to see, touch and learn about the anatomy of harbor porpoises. I have a very hands on learning style so this was ideal for me. I won't go into graphic detail because I know others may not care to hear about a scientific necropsy.

Through this examination it was determined that this young female most likely died due to an acute trauma, likely a boat strike. She had hematoma on her right side and showed some damage to the lung on that side as well as 2 broken ribs.

It's amazing what scientists are able to see and learn based on these type of exams. Because of a thick blubber layer on marine mammals, there is often no outward sign of an injury. The only effective way to find out about an injury like this is to thouroughly examine the animal through a necropsy. Often though even after a necropsy, no difinite cause of death can be determined.

I'm really glad that I'm able to participate with this group and expand my own knowledge base as well as help with recording information that is used by scientists around the world who are studying marine mammals and our environment.

Groups like ours are small non profits who together gather information related to marine mammals all over the world. If you are interested in helping with this cause, check your local Stranding Network for volunteer opportunities. Or support them through donations. For more information on the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding network, head over to the website http://www.wmmsn.org/