Week Five – The kids from Egegik

Well it is nice to say that we haven’t slowed down any. This week was set at a steady pace with new animals coming in from far and wide. At the end of the previous week we received a ‘bathtub call.’ I had to ask, “What’s a ‘bathtub call’?” Vanessa explained that it is a call from someone who says, “I have a seal in my bathtub. What do I do?” The call came from Egegik, a small fishing town on the north side of the peninsula that juts out from mainland Alaska. The seal was scheduled to be flown into Anchorage for pick-up the next day. Well we got a 2 for 1 because another seal was picked up in Egegik a few hours later. They both were flown in and picked up Monday. These seals were even bigger than Diesel and younger because they both had their umbilical remnants. So big that our vet suspected that they were in fact spotted seals and took detailed measurements of their flippers. It was a boy and a girl, Gears and Clutch. A pretty routine admit for these two, who had no apparent ailments besides being a little dehydrated.

Not even 8 hours passed before we received another call from Egegik about another pup. I was a bit curious. How does a town with under 200 residents have so many pups to deal with? I later learned from Tim that the fishing practice in this area is to line the shallows with nets. This is an area where seals will hunt for fish and the fishermen believe that the seals pull fish from their nets. They will illegally shoot these ‘problem’ seals and give us the pups to deal with. It was pretty apparent that there was a lack of education about seals in this community and Tim has plans to conduct some information sessions for the citizens of Egegik in the near future. So that pup was flown into Anchorage for pick up and since it was my Monday Laura and April did the pick up. They came back with yet another giant baby seal and his name was Manifold. And he brought our number up to nine seal pups.

Around the same time of these three were being admitted we got a call about a pregnant Steller’s Eider with an apparent gunshot wound. This was kind of a big deal. Steller’s Eiders are a threatened species in Alaska and the breeding stock may number as few as 1000 individuals. The fact she may be carrying eggs made this situation even direr. The call came from Barrow, the northern most populated area in Alaska. She was flown from Barrow to Anchorage and picked up by a staff member. It turned out that she wasn’t shot, but her wing had been caught in some wire. She needed surgery and had her wing wrapped to prevent any motion while she was recovering. She was introduced to water and was fed krill. She had a very healthy appetite. There was some concern about collecting sufficient nesting material for her if in fact she was carrying eggs, but I’m not sure what came of that. I haven’t seen her. We have another bird in our care and we needed to shower in just to see her. I hope to see Nozzle because this may be the only opportunity I’ll have to be able to see a Steller’s Eider.

I mentioned we have another bird in our care. He is a Common Merganser named Turbo Charger. He came in from the Seward area after an intensive search for his mother. The problem is with these birds is that they are very social within a family group and imprint very easily. So his living area is off by itself and in his little tote he has a mirror and a picture of a Merganser family. We did this in hopes that he would familiarize himself with well, himself. We set up a camera for him and I think it looks like a little apartment with his pillow case floor and the adornments on the walls. It amused me very much.

Each week seems to offer up a new ‘project’ for us. Last week it was Wiper and the week before that it was Muffler. At times Wiper would be as gregarious as Gasket and she usually was the one answering the other kids’ calls. Something happened to her right around us moving her out into the condo area for the day. She became unusually quiet, lethargic and acting very much as a sick seal. The decision was made to keep her inside all day so we could constantly monitor her. Her treatment was pretty simple: antibiotics, sub-cu fluids and electrolytes substituted into her feeds. It was a little disheartening to see her not as her feisty self. That feeling worsened when she had some seizure activity on Thursday. It was very subdued with her staring blankly into space and head bobbing repetitively. When many of us saw this we couldn’t help but conclude dimoic acid toxicity, but this was not the case for Wiper, thankfully. It turned out she may have had mild septicemia caused by some sort of infection. Being septic would account for the seizures and a combination of antibiotics should solve the problem. She made quite a turnaround this week and is on her way back to her hard to handle self and I’m happy about that.

Week Four - Adaptation

As some of you may have noticed it has taken me longer than usual to post my goings on of last week. I lost my nearly completed blog. :( It upset me that I poured my heart into that post only to lose it. I’ve switched to typing up my post in Word and then posting it on my site to avoid anymore blog disasters and subsequent mental breakdowns. I’m going to try my best to remember what I had written and try to share it with you one more time.

When I think of the word adaptation I think of Tom in Evolution and I picture fish evolving lungs to survive life on land. Never did I think of adaptation in the context of breaking one’s habits and routines to survive life as an intern…

I’m not going to sugar coat my week and tell you it was fantastic. No, I’ll be honest and say it was a frustrating week for me. I’m not complaining because I know how lucky I am to be here. It was just a long week.

It was my last week of pm shift and my first working with a new seasonal person. Working with a new person comes a new way of doing things and this was the first habit of mine to break. She had a different way of tubing, different way of taking temperature, different everything and I found it tough to break the habits I formed with Michelle. As I was actively making an effort to change we got a new seal in from Homer, Diesel. He was a big boy (~10 kg) and dwarfed the other babies. During our 8 pm feed we needed to tube him electrolytes, but I seemed to be on auto-pilot. We tube the healthiest animals first and move down the line to the most recently admitted animals. Gasket is Gasket and he could pretty much tube himself because he’s discovered that he gets a warm, full feeling after we’re done with him. The babies (Muffler, Piston, Wiper, and Spring) were pretty small and just getting their teeth in. I noticed (feel) their new teeth when restraining, but it was nothing I was concerned with. Diesel was last and I hopped into the tote and sat on him like I do everybody else. I stuck my finger in his mouth like I had with the other seals to allow the tuber to tube and I got bit. It hurt, but I had heavy duty rubber gloves on and I added the left finger in to keep his mouth open. He bit down again. OUCH! But I pressed on. I stuck my middle fingers in instead and I got bit again. It was at this point I was really frustrated with myself and I lost it….I started to cry and like a girl too *geeze*. I pulled away and April had to tell me that if I wasn’t comfortable I needed to get off of him, but I wasn’t uncomfortable. I was upset and embarrassed. I needed to get this done, he needed to be tubed and we needed to finish and move on to our evening chores. I expressed this to her between sobs and she talked me through the rest of it. When we finished I hopped of that seal like a hot car seat and dashed for the door. I needed air and to compose myself. I had entered that vicious cycle that most girls are aware of; where you cry out of utter frustration and can’t stop crying because you’re embarrassed that you cried in the first place. I had realized I made a rookie mistake by being on auto-pilot and stuck in a routine. April came out nearly in tears herself and we talked about what had happened. She suggested a new tactic. I was grateful for her advice and patience.

I worked on breaking habits and not going on auto-pilot even with a camera in face as was the situation later in the week. A news crew from Anchorage came to do a story on Gasket. I had hoped they would be finished when I rolled into work at 3 pm but, to my dismay they had just begun when I came into start my shift. I haven’t had great experiences being on camera and anyone can ask me about San Antonio if they really want to know. So I was less than enthused to be on film and so was April as I found out. They filmed us doing our afternoon feed and swim of the kids. I’m not sure how cameras work but I didn’t think that the camera guy needed to be that zoomed in on me. It was nice that they were more interested in Tim so April and I could get the rest of the feed done. The piece aired the next night on the evening news and it turned out pretty great. <http://www.ktuu.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=2591679&h1=Seal%20pups%20swim%20their%20way%20from%20rehab%20to%20wild&vt1=v&at1=Video%20Player&d1=298434&LaunchPageAdTag=Station%204&activePane=info&rnd=90808345>

On my final day of night shift Elizabeth (mammal staff and assistant stranding coordinator) was in to give us a hand. I find I relate to her a lot because of her size, she’s a shorty like me! I told her what had happened to me earlier in the week and asked her what technique she uses. She demonstrated on Gasket and she also told me that finding the right technique wasn’t going to happen over night and it would take a lot of trial and error to find the one that would work for me. That’s what I was here for, to learn different techniques and to try them all out. She also mentioned that being on auto-pilot can be a dangerous thing especially when it came to restraining the larger animals. A good practice would be to focus on that animal and assess the risk it may pose to myself for every animal that we handle, big or small.

Week Three - This is more like it...

This has officially become my 'intern project' for the summer. I'm in the process of figuring out when I can post my blog on the ASLC website. Pretty much what I write here will be posted in the rehabilitation section of the website.

Anyhow this was my first week of pm shift and I've determined that working from 3 pm to midnight takes a toll on me mentally and physically, but that doesn't mean I'm complaining. I still managed to have a great week. So after the death of Axle that left us with only two animals to care for. I was kind of wondering to myself, "When are things going to pick up?" Well it wasn't more than a day that passed when things did. During my Sunday last week we were called about a seal pup stranded in Homer. Vanessa (seasonal) and Laura (intern) drove to Soldotna to pick up the pup. They picked her up in style in our Marine Animal Rescue truck. The seal usually rides out the trip back to Seward in the bed in a transport kennel. The truck has a tall canopy that has heaters installed to keep an animal warm. When the pup arrived she got a complete physical by one of our vets and the girls worked hard to get the seal pup hydrated. This is done both ways: we tube the animal an electrolyte solution and we administer a saline solution sub-cutaneously. It was also up to Laura to name the new girl. After careful consideration and consulting of many automotive catalogs she chose Wiper.

I didn't have much time to get to know Wiper when I came in on Tuesday because we got another call from Homer about a seal pup. The pick up of this pup was delegated to Michelle (seasonal and fellow Canadian) and I. We packed up the truck and headed to Soldotna. The drive was scenic and I got to see how the landscape changes as you go from Seward to the other side of the peninsula where Soldotna is. Seward is full of jagged snowy peaks where it moves to a mountain less landscape full of marshes and wind stunted pine trees as you close in on Soldotna. We pull in to Fred Meyer where the switch was to occur. We greet the stranding network volunteers from Homer. Michelle and I set to work looking over the seal, taking temperature, nose to flipper measurements and administering fluids. The seal looked fairly good for being stranded alone for 48 hours. Michelle asked the two boys with the volunteer ladies what kind of name they wanted to give the seal keeping with the car part theme. The older boy suggested Piston. We packed Piston up and set out for home. We stopped every half hour or so to check his temp. He stayed pretty cold for an hour so we made the decision to move Piston to the cab and crank the heat. It was pretty uncomfortable for Michelle and I but it seemed to warm up Piston. When we got him back to the center he underwent the same exam as Wiper by a vet. We also pumped more fluids into him before going home to bed.

Not only were new kids arriving but Gasket was taking the next step in his rehabilitation. He was moved outside this week to spend his days in one of the condos. The condo is a caged pool and haul out area for our young seals, sea lions and sea otters. It's a place where an older pup can swim in a full pool and learn to haul out of the water. Gasket was not the only one to learn about the condos. I also had to learn how to restrain an animal in a condo. It was not easy for me to climb in, and keep a hold on a seal as gregarious as Gasket. He's gotten quite fat and now there are no handles (lose skin) to grab on to. He also likes to roll. But as one of my fellow interns described, "I was watching the Gasket cam and someone threw a towel over his head and then climbed in. The camera blurred, it was all over before it even started and Gasket looked absolutely stupefied, no worries though he was asleep 4 minutes later." That's the best way to describe what we do.

This week also had me learning how to take temperatures of the seals and how to disinfect an umbilical remnant as well. I had to temp Piston each time on the way back from Soldotna and I've practiced on some of the other seal pups. I also assisted Michelle in administering sub-cu fluids. The newer kids were very complacent and would suck on their fore flippers while we were sticking them, but then there are seals like Muffler who needed to constantly be distracted or she would pull the needle out with her mouth.

Every seal is different and the instinct that all of them have baffles me, especially Gasket. As I have mentioned before he was a c-section born pup and has never come in contact with or let alone seen another seal. Yet he can swim (like a pro) and respond to the calls of the other kids.

I didn't spend too much time philosophizing over the seals because we got a call about another seal stranded on an island that houses a hydro-electric plant. He got the star treatment and was flown in to Homer. Another one of our network volunteers drove him into Soldotna where we made our third pick up of the week. This time it was Vanessa and Hilary who got to go and pick the seal up. The man from the hydro plant that rescued him suggested a few names and Spring was chosen. This is when my week came to a close; it started with just two animals to care for and ended with a full house of 5 kids. I can only hope we see more.

Week Two - A Lesson in Death

Here's week two flying by, and what a week it has been. It started off routine enough, with us interns perfecting our seal restraints. The process of restraining was becoming a bit easier, especially with the feedback we were getting from the seasonal girls. The routine of cleaning was getting easier to contend with as well. We didn't need to be told anymore what needed to be done and we started taking some initiative.

The babies were doing great. Gasket (male Harbour Seal pup ~1 month old) was being his melodramatic self and Muffler (female Harbour Seal pup ~under 2 weeks old) was quiet and adorable as usual. Axle (adult male California Sea Lion) was improving. We had not seen any seizure activity since being in our care. He had apparently seized while on the beach in Homer and this may have been a symptom of dimoic acid toxicity. He was doing so well we were conditioning him in order to be in our pre-release pool out back. We had a transport cage that we had to familiarize him with. We did this by conditioning him to associate running water with food. We would turn on the tap in his feeding tote and pour fish in it to get him in to the cage. We did this for a few days to the point that we could get him completely into the cage and close the door behind him. One afternoon we got him into the cage and pushed him into the back area while we cleaned his holding area and put a scale in it in order for us to get a weight measurement. The original estimate was 70 kg, turned out he was more like 170 kg or 375 lbs. We finally gave him pool access and hoped he would go for a swim. We were trying to get him used to the pool before we could move him to the big pre-release pool.

Thursday was routine enough, we were preparing food for the kids and we were going to feed Axle and get the transport cage set up after we were done. I was checking on the kids when I thought I saw and heard Axle hauling out of his pool and got excited and ran over to watch. My excitement quickly turned to panic when I realized that Axle was in the middle of a very strong and violent seizure. The vet was called promptly while I stood watch and timed his seizure. I'd rather not go into the gruesome details, but I'd like to add that it was something very upsetting to have to watch. The most violent portion of the seizure lasted only minutes. Dr. Carrie (the vet) soon arrived to see him for herself. This incident very much confirmed he had a chronic form of dimoic acid toxicity, which is something similar to red tide that affects the brain and nervous system. It starts with an algae bloom and the toxins they produce concentrate at each level of the food chain. These toxins trigger seizures that cause brain damage and sometimes death. There are two types of dimoic acid toxicity: acute which is treatable and chronic which cannot be treated. Because of the magnitude of the Thursday morning seizure it was pretty apparent that Axle had the chronic form and should be euthanized to end his struggle. Dr. Carrie proceeded to sedate Axle with our help. In rare events a sedative can have the opposite effect cause the individual to be hyperactive. This was Axle's case and the doctor had to inject him 2 more times for the drug to take effect. During this time Axle was seizing and again it was pretty violent and difficult to watch. The sedative finally took over and we could go in to put him down. Death came quickly for Axle after the injection. I was relieved it was over and that he didn't have to suffer anymore.

Next came the necropsy (animal autopsy) for which we prepared for right away. I sat in on a portion of it. Knowing that we could learn from dissecting Axle set my mind at ease and kept me from totally breaking down. It was a methodical process and many tissue sections were taken to be tested. I knew he would provide more information towards this disease and I was satisfied with that.

I was slated to do a necropsy on a sea otter on my Friday and I was excited to be involved in it. As usual things don't go as planned around here and a dead female Steller Sea Lion was picked up in the bay area and dropped off at our back door. It appeared that she was lactating and possibly pregnant. The boat and trailer were parked out of the way and we conducted the necropsy on the boat to which I should add was one of the centers and not a private citizen’s. This was the first necropsy I was fully involved in; holding back intestines and bagging tissue samples etc. Dr. Carrie proceeded in cutting the abdomen open and turned out she was pregnant with a full term female pup. It was estimated that momma had been dead for 24 hours at the most. Baby was in a more advanced state of decomposition and was later determined and she was dead at least 24 hours before momma died. After the necropsy on momma had completed we moved inside to dissect baby. The little one had extensive bruising in the right side of the body which was the same side where momma had bruising as well. Their deaths were the result of a boat strike. Baby died instantly and momma lived for another day before she succumbed to her injuries. Again it was upsetting to see a momma and baby dead, especially when she was going to give birth within the week or so. Since she was found in the bay area there is a possibility that she may be known to the researchers here that have cameras on haul out areas, but this may take a while to determine.I didn't have much strength to stick around for the sea otter necropsy which could take three hours to complete. So I missed out, but I hope to be involved in more necropsies over the summer. One of my goals is to become more familiar with marine mammal anatomy and this week certainly kicked it off for me.