Nicole Teutschel at Año Nuevo State Reserve, CA -- Last Friday's big storm generated huge waves that snatched at least three tiny pups from the sides of their mothers. Flood warnings, thunder and lightning, gale force winds, and even high surf warnings were in effect all over the central coast. Año Nuevo State Reserve was no different. One guest of the park remarked on how the thunder and lightening was cracking literally overhead, the animals were agitated and the rangers deemed the park unsafe for guests and closed the park. Año Nuevo has a reputation of being hardy like the seals that live there, and is usually closed only on Christmas Day…rain or shine.

Like those who had hiked out to the beaches, it was a rough day for the seals. The beaches were washed out due to the huge swells. E-seals that couldn't move high enough on the dunes were forced off the sand and into the rough seas.

[Lightningstrike, rescued elephant seal pup, at the Marine Mammal Center. Photo courtesy TMMC.]

Adult seals can handle just about anything: the vast waters of the frigid North Pacific ocean, rolling storms, the deep depths of the ocean. But newborn unweaned pups are defenseless. Pups who are separated from their mothers before weaning are left without the necessary fat reserves, muscle mass, and maturity to survive the rough waters. They can't feed themselves, and they're prime targets for the predators that circle the colonies.

Just after lunch, Rose, a seasoned volunteer, answered the Marine Mammal Center's rescue line. During a break in the storm, some beachgoers had come across a small, dark and very active seal stuck in a pile of logs on Waddell Creek State Beach. (According to a story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Andy Paulin and his two daughters, Kira and Niki, found the pup, and freed it, and then called the TMMC rescue line.) Not knowing what kind of animal it was, Rose asked a couple TMMC (and by coincidence, TOPP) volunteers to check out the situation. Brian and Shauna headed up the coast to go check out the mystery animals. Before they reached the beach, it was storming once again.

Brian and Shauna arrived at Waddell Creek to find a blackcoat. Blackcoat is the nickname for elephant seals who still have their thick pup fur, which falls off shortly after weaning. Shauna drove up the highway and called me from Año, asking for help to pick up the pup. Knowing that this little seal was in trouble, they caught him, placed him into a carrier and began hiking across the beach with the storm brewing overhead. They loaded him up, and just as they left, Brian caught a glimpse of a second blackcoat tumbling along the beach. The storm was bad and getting worse, Brian and Shauna hurried out to the waterline and grabbed the second blackcoat, a girl. I was on my way fighting the storm when we met up in Santa Cruz, got the seals, and brought them back to Moss Landing for triage care.

[Lightningstrike and Thunderbolt, rescued elephant seal pups at the Marine Mammal Center. Photo courtesy TMMC.]

From their carriers, the two blackcoats yelled to each other (and probably for their moms!) throughout the entire ride! When we returned to the TMMC site in Moss Landing, we coordinated with the TMMC veterinary staff to deliver emergency medical care to the two pups. Then we got them ready for their big trip: up to TMMC in Sausalito to be fattened up, weaned, and taught to fend for themselves before being released back into the wild. They've been named Thunderbolt and Lightningstrike. The photo from TMMC below shows Lightningstrike suckling on Thunderbolt; if mom isn't around, pups will suckle on almost anything or anyone they can find, because that's what they do at this age: eat, eat, eat!!

On Sunday, TMMC picked up yet another blackcoat, a male later named Franie, at Waddell Creek. Waddell Creek is only a couple miles from Año Nuevo, giving us little room to guess where these seals came from.

We don't know who their mothers were, and it's too risky for the pups to try to reconnect them at Año Nuevo. At less than a week old, the three pups are now facing a very different journey from their peers at Año. These pups will be rehabilitated and hopefully, released back into the wild. Mieke Eerkens, at TMMC, says they'll keep the pups for about three months. They're being fed a mix of salmon oil and milk....a lot of salmon oil and milk, as they need to gain about 5 pounds a day. Then they'll go to fish school to learn how to fend for themselves, and will be released.

Keep checking back, we'll be updating the Elephant Seal Homecoming Days page with the pups' status, weight gain, and any other words from the TMMC rehabilitation team.