South Bay : Marine Mammal Center to Celebrate ‘Day of the Seal’

The Marine Mammal Care Center at Ft. MacArthur in San Pedro could be called an orphanage for lost baby seals and sea lions. It scoops up those disoriented pups and yearlings who have become weak from not eating and puts them back on the road to recovery.

And on Sunday, at its second annual “Day of the Seal,” the center will demonstrate how it gets the animals into shape for their return to the sea.

At 9 a.m., the center will demonstrate how it feeds the smaller seals with tubes filled with milk or electrolytes. The more mature seals are given a ground fish gruel or whole fish. “At first they kind of reject it, but eventually they accept it,” center Director Don Zumwalt said.

There will be lectures throughout the day about sea animals, and a 13,000-gallon tank to receive and treat seals and sea lions contaminated by oil spills will be dedicated.

The center, founded in 1993, rehabilitated 138 animals last year. It is authorized by the National Marine Fisheries Service to receive lost seals and sea lions taken in by animal control agencies from Ventura to Long Beach.

Most of the animals are California sea lions, northern elephant seals and harbor seals. Six animals are now undergoing rehabilitation.

The center, at 3601 S. Gaffey St., is not charging admission to the event, but there will be a fund-raiser auction. For more information, call (310) 548-5677.