VANCOUVER AQUARIUM MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE CENTRE:
S.O.S. - Save Our Seals
Each year we rescue and treat over 100 stranded marine animals in need of care. Most of our patients are baby seal pups, and they need your help! Be sure to pick up your I Support Marine Mammal Rescue sticker during your next visit to the Vancouver Aquarium.
History
The Vancouver Aquarium has been involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of marine mammals for over forty years. In that time, the Marine Mammal Rescue centre has grown from admitting one or two animals in a season, to admitting nearly 100 in some years.
The program currently admits over 100 distressed marine mammals per year. Each of these animals requires our expert veterinary treatment and supportive care to recuperate before they are released back into the ocean.
The Marine Mammal Rescue centre is run without governmental operational support.
Species and Range
The program is available to assist distressed marine mammals from the length of the British Columbia coastline.
Elephant seals, sea otters, Steller sea lions, harbour porpoises, sea turtles, common dolphins, and killer whales have all been the subjects of our efforts, but neonate (newborn) harbour seals are the most commonly admitted patients to the Marine Mammal Rescue centre.
The current facilities of the Marine Mammal centre allow for on-site rehabilitation of seals, sea lions, sea otters, and small cetaceans such as harbour porpoises. The rescue of larger marine mammals would involve the use of ocean pens or other secondary facilities.
Goals
The primary goal of the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre is to provide housing and care for ill, injured, or abandoned marine mammals and to rehabilitate them for release back into their natural habitat.
Additional program goals include:
* Establishing written protocols for the rehabilitation of different marine mammal species in order to serve as a resource in the event of natural or man-made disasters that impact upon marine mammals
* Monitoring the status of wild populations through the scientific study of ill or orphaned marine mammals treated by the Aquarium
* Performing a public service to offer assistance to marine mammals that may be in peril due to habitat destruction and environmental damage caused by humans
* Educating the public on how to properly respond to apparently stranded or diseased marine mammals
Facility
The Marine Mammal Rescue Centre is a hospital for sick, injured, or orphaned marine mammals.
Throughout an animal’s stay at the centre, a healthy, low-stress environment is essential to their rehabilitation. It is important that our patients do not become our “pets”, but stay true to their wild nature. Unlike domestic animals, spending too much time with a wildlife patient can create a high level of stress, and this can negatively affect their healing process. To maximize chances of a successful rehabilitation and release, we do not “play” or interact, except where necessary for treatment or husbandry, with the marine mammals in our care.
The Rescue Centre consists of indoor and outdoor spaces, all designed for efficient and effective marine mammal care.
The indoor space includes food preparation areas, a laboratory and pharmacy, an examination room, and recovery areas for debilitated animals.
Outdoor facilities consist of a variety of holding pools and tubs. These are of varying sizes and designs, to suit different sizes and kinds of marine mammals. The site is organized so that new arrivals, and/or sick animals, are separated from any healthy marine mammals. This reinforces the principles of quarantine that are so important in wildlife rehabilitation.
Rescue Crew
The Marine Mammal Rescue team includes a staff veterinarian (as well as several consulting veterinarians), animal health technicians, animal care and rehabilitation specialists, and many dedicated volunteers.
Rescue
If you see a marine mammal that you belive is in distress:
1. Stay back!
2. Keep people and pets away
3. Call the Vancouver Aquarium's Marine Mammal Rescue Centre at 604-258-SEAL (7325)
If you are calling after hours, please feel free to try our emergency phone at 604-862-1647.
Rescue situations, and their recommended courses of action, change dramatically depending on the species of marine mammal concerned. Other critical factors are also involved, such as age of the animal, behaviour, location, and apparent health. Please do not attempt to help an animal on your own.
Quarantine
Each new arrival is placed under quarantine for a minimum of 14 days. This means that each marine mammal patient cannot come into contact with another animal, either directly or indirectly (Direct contact would occur if animals were housed together. Indirect contact comes about through the shared use of equipment, facilities, or personnel.).
Quarantine is very important in any wildlife rehabilitation setting. Marine mammals arriving at the Rehabilitation Centre may be suffering from bacterial, viral, or parasitic infections. Their immune systems may be compromised, perhaps due to a disease process, the stress involved with capture and transport, or because they are young pups with underdeveloped immunity. We will not risk transmitting disease from one patient to another.
All staff and volunteers associated with the Marine Mammal Rescue and Rehabilitation Program are trained in proper quarantine protocols, and how to minimize risk of disease transmission, before they are allowed to work directly with the animals.
Assessment
Upon arrival, each animal is given a thorough physical examination. Body measurements are taken, sensory and musculoskeletal systems are examined, and behaviour is observed and recorded. The animal’s whole body is carefully examined, from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, so that any wounds, external parasites, or other abnormalities can be identified. The level of hydration (or dehydration) is assessed, and the lungs are auscultated (listened to with a stethoscope). Age is estimated using such markers as the size of the teeth, the condition of the umbilicus, and the type of fur present (harbour seal pups in our area may have a long white coat, called lanugo, which identifies them as premature).
As part of the examination, a blood sample is drawn and sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results assist the veterinary staff in determining a course of treatment. A fecal exam may also be performed on-site by the animal care team, to check whether parasites may be present, and swabs may be taken from any infected lesions/abscesses on the body surface, to culture and identify which microbes are involved.
After the initial examination is complete, a treatment and feeding protocol is started for each individual animal, tailored to their condition and specific needs.
Feeding
When an animal first arrives at the Rehabilitation Centre, after it has been examined, it is started on a feeding regimen tailored to its specific condition. Our patients are usually dehydrated upon arrival, so the initial feedings are designed to rehydrate, replenishing water, electrolytes, and sugars.
After rehydration, seal pups admitted to the Rehabilitation Centre are fed a specially designed fish formula, high in calories and nutrients. Harbour seal mother’s milk is very rich (up to 50% fat), so fish oil is added to our formula to increase the fat content.
As pups get older, and their condition improves, the process of weaning is started. Whole fish is slowly introduced to their diet, until they are eating entirely solid food. After this, they are taught to eat on their own, with no human assistance.
Older animals admitted to the Rehabilitation Centre, if in stable condition, are offered high quality fish after their initial rehydration.
In all cases, the diet of animals in our care is monitored carefully, to ensure they are receiving enough calories and nutrients to become healthy.
Observations
Wild animals are adapted to avoid showing signs of weakness and disease, as this could make them more susceptible to predatory attack.
Sometimes animals will exhibit very few outward signs of illness until their condition is quite progressed. Keeping this in mind, it is important for us to closely monitor the condition of the marine mammals in our care.
Staff and volunteers at the Rehabilitation Centre are trained to perform regular daily observations. Animal behaviour is noted throughout the day, as is appetite and frequency of bowel movements.
Any changes in behaviour or apparent condition are reported to the animal care team for response.
Cleaning
Cleaning of the animals, the facilities, and the equipment is an important part of daily duties at the Rehabilitation Centre. All staff and volunteers spend a good portion of their day ensuring that all areas of the Centre are spotless. No opportunity is provided for harmful bacterial growth or cross-contamination to occur.
Each morning, the animals in our care, and their enclosures, are cleaned. The water in our pools and tubs is filtered or replaced, to ensure a healthy environment for our recuperating patients. This process then continues throughout the day.
Veterinary Care
Qualified and experienced veterinary care is provided to each of the animals in the Rehabilitation Centre. Veterinarians and animal health technicians are part of the Marine Mammal Rescue and Rehabilitation team, and other animal care staff and volunteers are trained in veterinary procedures and protocols.
After the initial assessment, animals are started on an individual treatment regimen, specific to their needs. Treatment may include rehydration, wound cleaning and care, parasite removal, or antibiotic therapy for those suffering from bacterial infection.
Throughout their stay at the Rehabilitation Centre, the condition of all patients is monitored closely. Examinations are periodically performed to ensure that any ailments are improving, and a blood sample is drawn and analyzed as required. If indicated, radiographs (x-rays) and ultrasounds can be taken.
Occasionally marine mammals are admitted that require more intensive treatment. The staff veterinarian (or consulting veterinarians) performs surgeries or other procedures as needed.
Criteria for Release
Before an animal is determined to be ready for release, it must meet certain criteria. These criteria have been established to ensure that only healthy, competent marine mammals are released into wild populations, and to give our patients the best possible chance of long-term survival.
Each marine mammal patient must be clinically healthy and free from disease before release. A thorough medical examination is performed on each animal to ensure there are no abnormalities that could impede their survival in the wild, and to ensure that no diseases will be passed on to wild populations.
Each release candidate must have achieved a satisfactory weight. Especially in the case of harbour seal pups, our patients are often underweight when they arrive at the Rehabilitation Centre. Marine mammals rely on their blubber (fat) to keep them warm, as well as to provide a source of calories when food is scarce (An exception to this is the sea otters, which do not store excess fat under their skin. Sea otters rely on their thick fur to keep them warm, and must have a constant food supply.).
The animals must also be behaviourally competent, and able to feed on their own. All marine mammal patients are given “live fish trials” before release, to test how well they can hunt and catch live feed.
Release Day
Release days are very rewarding for the staff and volunteers who have worked so hard to help a marine mammal become healthy and strong.
The animals are taken to various release sites, carefully selected by the Marine Mammal Rescue and Rehabilitation team, in the Lower Strait of Georgia. Release locations are usually sheltered, calm bays or coves, where newly released animals can take some time to readjust to life in the wild.
Post-Release Tracking
Each marine mammal is given a unique piece of jewelry before they are released; a small orange plastic tag is placed between the webbing of their hind flippers.
This tag has a number on it, which will identify the animal if it is sighted in the wild.
http://www.vanaqua.org/mmr
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Also visit the "Conservation" and "Research" sections of their website.
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