Lady Stardust
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Cute, but sad, too.
Hermosa Beach family finds sea lion pup lounging in backyard chair
HERMOSA BEACH - A family that lives two blocks inland from the ocean in Hermosa Beach was surprised to find a sea lion pup sound asleep in a backyard chair today, a wildlife rescue worker said.
The emaciated year-old pup had waddled up two blocks and then an alley, crossing two busy streets, unlatched a gate and "found his way to a nice comfortable lounge chair," said Peter Wallerstein, a specialist with Marine Animal Rescue in San Pedro.
Changing ocean currents caused by the El Nino coastal oscillation, and a shortage of easy-to-catch fish, has caused a skyrocketing number of hungry, sick and "just plain confused sea lion pups" to flop in strange places, Wallerstein said. That includes a pup who climbed four flights of stairs to a condominium's rooftop sundeck in Newport Beach last month.
"Just yesterday, the sheriff's office called me out on a sea lion walking up Lincoln Boulevard in Marina del Rey," Wallerstein said. "These pups have just been weaned, and mom is gone, and the ocean is cold and they just don't know what to do."
Last month, he said, "I did 90 marine mammal rescues in L.A. and Orange counties." A half-dozen pups were rescued Monday, and 200 so far this year, he said.
The rescued pups are nursed back to health at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, a volunteer organization that is always short of funds, Wallerstein said.
"We do these rescues for nothing and depend on community support to rescue
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these mammals," Wallerstein said.
To learn more about the agency, log onto its website, www.marspecialists.org
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_15016349?nclick_check=1
Hermosa Beach family finds sea lion pup lounging in backyard chair
HERMOSA BEACH - A family that lives two blocks inland from the ocean in Hermosa Beach was surprised to find a sea lion pup sound asleep in a backyard chair today, a wildlife rescue worker said.
The emaciated year-old pup had waddled up two blocks and then an alley, crossing two busy streets, unlatched a gate and "found his way to a nice comfortable lounge chair," said Peter Wallerstein, a specialist with Marine Animal Rescue in San Pedro.
Changing ocean currents caused by the El Nino coastal oscillation, and a shortage of easy-to-catch fish, has caused a skyrocketing number of hungry, sick and "just plain confused sea lion pups" to flop in strange places, Wallerstein said. That includes a pup who climbed four flights of stairs to a condominium's rooftop sundeck in Newport Beach last month.
"Just yesterday, the sheriff's office called me out on a sea lion walking up Lincoln Boulevard in Marina del Rey," Wallerstein said. "These pups have just been weaned, and mom is gone, and the ocean is cold and they just don't know what to do."
Last month, he said, "I did 90 marine mammal rescues in L.A. and Orange counties." A half-dozen pups were rescued Monday, and 200 so far this year, he said.
The rescued pups are nursed back to health at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, a volunteer organization that is always short of funds, Wallerstein said.
"We do these rescues for nothing and depend on community support to rescue
Advertisement
these mammals," Wallerstein said.
To learn more about the agency, log onto its website, www.marspecialists.org
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_15016349?nclick_check=1