May 18, 2022

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Walking my mile, I noticed a tiny spotted baby seal washed up inbetween some surf tumbled sandstone. Nature has such a wonderful way of blending life with nature.  The tide had turned and high tide would probably reach the baby seal in about 2 hours. I had never seen such a tiny pup and it brought me back to my days in junior high when we were subjected to learning about the Artic baby seals and the horrible things done to them just to harvest their fur. I have to admit, I freaked out knowing this little pup may be food for vultures. Staying my distance, I was not going to leave this pup alone.  I called the national stranded marine mammal hotline and they took my information and assured me they would forward it on to the responsible stranding coordinator for my area. I then received a text from the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute and connected with the Stranding Coordinator. Here's what he said: "It's normal for seal pups to rest alone on shore and it's important for people to leave them alone so their mothers will continue to come ashore to nurse them. There are no rehabilitation options for seal pups in Oregon so this is the pup's best chance for survival. We ask that people please remain at least 150 feet away from them".  I'm writing this post to remind people that the pup's best chance of survival is to leave them alone no matter how hard it is to try to save them.