How is The Center funded?
Funding for The Center’s operating budget is provided by memberships and contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations. We also raise money through our Adopt-A-Seal® program and special events.
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What kinds of animals does The Center care for?
The species that we commonly deal with are local pinnipeds: California sea lions, northern elephant seals and Pacific harbor seals. Less common patients include northern fur seals and Steller sea lions. On rare occasions The Center has cared for Guadalupe fur seals. We rescue and aid in the rehabilitation of stranded dolphins, porpoises and whales.  If longer term care is needed for cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises and whales) we request help from facilities like Marine World Africa USA (Vallejo, CA), Long Marine Lab (Santa Cruz, CA), or Sea World (San Diego, CA). We also rescue and rehabilitate juvenile and adult southern sea otters.  Sea otter pups are rehabilitated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  However, if their program is full, we can take in sea otter pups as well.
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Why aren't the animals left to die naturally?
Twenty five years ago stranded marine mammals were left to die on the beach. Since then, two things have happened. Perhaps as a result of increasing environmental awareness and concern for wildlife, the general public is taking more and more responsibility for animals that need help. Second, the Marine Mammal Protection Act was enacted in 1972. The Act included a requirement to set up a system for response to stranded marine mammals. As rescue and rehabilitation efforts have expanded, we have learned a lot and today we can return many animals to the wild successfully. Some animals are in trouble due to natural causes, but few have the chance for a "natural" death if they beach themselves in a public area. They are often unintentionally harassed by curious onlookers, dogs or other traffic. Their reaction to this may be to bite or attack, creating a potential health hazard. Other animals are in trouble due to interaction with humans: oil and other chemical spills, contaminated water, fishing lines, fish hooks, even gunshot wounds. We believe we have a particular responsibility to help those animals whose problems are caused by human activity. Our mission includes educating the public about our work, teaching about the importance of marine mammals, and sharing our scientific findings with experts worldwide to monitor the health of the ocean itself.
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Is it normal for marine mammals to be on land?
Yes, most pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) haul out (rest on shore) for varying lengths of time. They haul out to give birth, to nurse pups, to breed, or simply to rest and sleep. The Center has volunteers trained to assess animals onshore to determine if they are healthy and merely resting, or if they are sick. While one normally thinks of sea otters as living solely in the water, they also occasionally haul out on shore, rocks, or docks. Sea turtles come ashore to lay eggs, but not in northern California. Therefore, a sea turtle on shore within The Center's rescue range is probably suffering from cold shock and in need of rescue. Cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) never haul out on land, so a dolphin, porpoise, or whale stranded on land is always in danger. Most often these animals are sick and in need of veterinary care, so they should never be pushed back into the water unless a trained individual has assessed the animal and determined that that is the best course of action.
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Is The Center open to the public?
No, not at this time due to construction.For more information on the re-construction of The Marine Mammal Center, please click here.
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What is your busiest season?
Spring is pupping season and generally one of the busiest times of year for The Center. Between February and June we care for orphaned or abandoned northern elephant seal and Pacific harbor seal pups. During summer and fall we generally have more California sea lions on-site. Winter is usually the quietest time at The Center, often with only 1-2 animals on site, so be sure to call us in advance if you plan on visiting.
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Where do the animals come from?
Our rescue range stretches from the southern border of San Luis Obispo county to the northern border of Mendocino county. Within this area, the vast majority of our animals come from between Pismo Beach and Bodega Bay.
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Does The Center use tranquilizer darts in order to rescue the animals?
No, we cannot use a tranquilizer to rescue animals. Tranquilizers cannot be used because the animal would feel the dart and could jump into the water (if on a dock or jetty) or dive into the water (if onshore) and drown before the tranquilizer's effects take hold.
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How do the animals get to The Center?
Most animals are found stranded on beaches or rocky shorelines. After The Center is notified of a stranded animal, we rescue the animal only if we determine there is cause to do so. While it is quite normal for pinnipeds to come out onto land and rest, it is not normal for them to do so in populated areas, nor is it normal for healthy adult animals to allow humans to approach. When taking a rescue call, The Center's stranding coordinators complete a "Distressed Animal Report." Questions asked during this initial phone report help determine whether or not further response is necessary. Once the report has been taken, we may dispatch a volunteer to assess the animal and determine whether it should be rescued immediately, monitored for a 24-hour watch, relocated, or left alone. If the animal is seriously sick or injured, we assemble a team of volunteers to rescue the animal. The size of the team and the type of equipment taken along is determined by the description of the animal from the caller. So accurate information regarding the size, species, and condition of the animal is very important. It is rather disconcerting to expect a 25-pound pup and find instead a 300-pound adult! The standard rescue equipment consists of a cage, herding boards, and hoop net(s). Once the animal is secure in a transport cage, it is loaded into our rescue vehicle and taken to The Center. Animals rescued in San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, and Sonoma counties are generally first stabilized by our local field offices before transport. If the trip is long and/or hot, the truck will pull off periodically to hose the animal down, keeping it as cool as possible. Newly-donated, air-conditioned vans support the animals' comfort during transport from our southern office.
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How long do the animals stay at The Center?
The average length of stay is 3 months. However, orphaned pups often stay longer depending on the species and condition of the animal. Orphan elephant seals and harbor seals, who in the wild are weaned and on their own after about a month, are often released after a few months at The Center. Sea lions in the wild are weaned after 6 months to a year. The few orphaned sea lions The Center has cared for were released after about a year. Occasionally, an animal is unreleasable and will stay quite long while we try to place it in a zoo or oceanarium.
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What does The Center do with animals that cannot be released?
Although The Center's ultimate goal is to release animals back to the wild, occasionally we will have an animal that is non-releasable. Animals that we have designated as non-releasable have included a sea lion with epilepsy, a northern fur seal that was hit by a car after coming ashore in Berkeley, and a harbor seal pup that suffered brain damage after being illegally picked up from a beach by unauthorized people who allowed him to get overheated. We try to place these animals in licensed zoos or oceanaria, where they will be cared for properly and will be with others of their species. Occasionally, The Center has also served as a refuge for captive animals being transferred or placed in another zoo or aquarium. The length of stay for these animals depends on how quickly a zoo is found that will take them, and how quickly all the appropriate permits are approved and funds for the transfer are gathered. By transferring these non-releasable animals to zoos and oceanaria, we are helping ensure that these animals are given a comfortable home, and fewer animals are collected from the wild populations for captivity. The animals also provide an opportunity to educate the public about marine mammals.
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What does The Center do with animals that die?
After an animal dies, a necropsy (the equivalent of an autopsy) is performed by the Center's science staff to determine the cause of death and to learn more about diseases in marine mammals.
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Do you rescue animals with shark bites?
Periodically, we rescue animals that appear to have shark bites. In a few cases, we have been able to positively identify shark bites by the shape of the wound, and sometimes a tooth is found in the wound. Sharks are a major predator of seals and sea lions; most shark attacks probably result in successful kills, rather than just injuries.
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Does The Center release animals at the location from which they were rescued?
No, we do not usually release animals at the location from which they were rescued. Often the rescue sites are public beaches, which are not good release points. Other animals are rescued from places that are very inappropriate for them such as docks, sidewalks, roads, porches, carports, and even airport runways. Marine mammals are migratory animals and are capable of swimming large distances, so it does not affect them to be released at a different point within their range.
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Where are animals released?
The majority of animals are released at a quiet, non-public beach at Chimney Rock in Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County. Occasionally, we release animals at other locations such as Anchor Bay Campground, Mendocino County; Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, San Mateo County; Point Lobos State Reserve, Monterey County; or Leffingwell Landing, San Luis Obispo County. At times, we release young California sea lions that have become accustomed to human contact and northern fur seals that are pelagic, out near the Farallon Islands via boat. Using remote release sites ensures that the released animals will have a quiet beach away from humans on which to gradually reenter the wild. In addition, there are seal and/or sea lion haul out areas in close proximity to these release locations.
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What are your release criteria?
Prior to release, a veterinarian must give animals a clean bill of health. Stable body weight and blood chemistry and hematology values within normal parameters are also required. The animals must also be free-feeding, that is, able to eat fish on their own. Pups and vision-compromised animals must be capable of tracking and eating live fish.
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How does The Center follow up on released animals?
All released pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) are tagged on their flippers with numbered orange plastic tags, registered at The Center and with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Local biologists and marine mammal observers report tag numbers for released seals and sea lions that are resighted in the wild back to NMFS and The Center. NMFS permittees use tags of different colors. Año Nuevo researchers use green tags, Farallons researchers use pink tags, San Miguel Islands researchers use red tags, and so on. Orange is the color used by California rehabilitation centers like The Center. In addition, we will sometimes radio or satellite tag an animal which allows us to monitor the animal for an extended period of time.
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What percentage of rescued animals are released back into the wild?
Through effective assessment, triage, and monitoring processes, The Center only admits animals that are sick or injured and in need of medical assistance. Survival varies by species, but overall approximately half of the animals admitted are released back into the wild.
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What's the largest animal The Center has ever rescued?
We have responded to several whales at the spot where they stranded who weighed many tons. The most famous of these was Humphrey. The largest animal we have brought into The Center was a subadult Steller sea lion named Simba picked up from Anchor Bay Campground, Mendocino County on July 16, 1992. Simba weighed 1041 pounds. Unfortunately, Simba was very sick and died shortly after rescue. Occasionally, we have rescued an adult northern elephant seal weighing over 700 pounds. Every year we rescue several adult male California sea lions that weigh over 400 pounds. It may take 17 people to rescue an adult male California sea lion of this size.
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What's the smallest animal The Center has ever rescued?
The smallest animal we have rescued was a six-pound northern fur seal named Doug from Humboldt county on March 26, 1993. Unfortunately, Doug was extremely emaciated when he was rescued and did not survive. Generally, every year several fur seal pups, often weighing as little as 10-15 pounds, strand throughout The Center's rescue range. An increase in strandings of fur seal pups in the fall has become an indicator of an upcoming El Niño event. Pacific harbor seal pups, which generally strand in February and March, also tend to be quite small, sometimes as little as 10-15 pounds.
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Are pups released by The Center able to fend for themselves?
Such concerns are very valid at a rehabilitation center. We try to prevent the pups from becoming tame by taking several precautions. Contact with the pups is kept at a minimum; unnecessary handling is not allowed, such as cuddling or pampering. Hand-feeding is practiced only until the pup learns to grab its food from underwater. Keeping several pups together in the same pen promotes socialization with each other and not with people. The Science Department has placed radio tags on some harbor seal pups before release in order to monitor their behavior in the wild. We have located many tagged harbor seals, hauled out and healthy 6 months to a year after release.
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Do the pools contain saltwater? Is the water warm?
The water is neither salty nor warm. The animals do not require saltwater, and they adjust easily to freshwater. We do give each animal daily salt supplement tablets.

The water is not warm, nor do we take animals indoors when the weather is bad. They would be too hot in warm water or indoors. We want them to return to their natural environment as easily as possible, thus we do not "pamper" them during their stay.
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What are the pools made of?
The pools are fiberglass. They were added in the summer of 1985, and were a great improvement over the old bathtubs used in The Center's early days.
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What are the trays at the pen entrances?
These trays contain a diluted solution of bleach and water. Their purpose is to rinse crew persons' boots entering or leaving a pen; the solution kills any germs that might otherwise be tracked from one pen to another, or brought in from the asphalt.
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Why are some pens screened from view?
Screening on the side of pens housing California sea lions and other especially sensitive species are used to limit the impact of human activity around these pen areas.
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Don't the animals have to be in water?
No. In fact, many of the animals we rescue, including harbor seals and elephant seals, spend considerable portions of their lives out of water (adult male elephant seals spend 3 months on shore during the breeding season). On hot days, or with very sick animals that cannot get into the pool, we may run sprinklers so they will not overheat.
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How often does The Center feed the animals? How much?
Different animals are placed on different feeding regimens. Pups are generally tube-fed every four hours when they first arrive. Tubing of pups usually takes place in an area not accessible to the public. Juveniles are fed 2 to 3 pounds of fish two or three times a day depending on our veterinarian's direction. The sub-adults may eat 4 to 5 pounds of fish and large animals eat 5 to 10 pounds two to three times a day. Feeding times are around 8:00 a.m. (before we open), 3:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. Very weak or sick animals are often tube-fed like pups four times daily with a fish mash consisting of pureed fish, water and vitamins.
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Why aren't pups bottle-fed?
There are several reasons. First, we have found it difficult to simulate the nipple of a seal. Second, it takes seal pups a very long time to learn how to nurse from a bottle, and then it is equally difficult to wean them and teach them to eat fish. Tube feeding is faster, more efficient, and the pup makes the transition to fish more easily. Most importantly, an average tube-feed for a pup takes 3 minutes, bottle feeding takes at least 20 minutes and involves more human contact, which we try to minimize.
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What are the most common problems for these animals?
In general, different species are rescued with characteristically different problems. Among California sea lions, the most common problems are internal parasites, such as lungworm, roundworm and liverflukes; many of these are also found in domestic dogs and cats. One California sea lion passed a tapeworm that was 96 feet long! Another common ailment is pneumonia, often complicated by parasites. Other sea lions have an assortment of injuries, from net wounds to animal bites. Unfortunately, gunshot wounds are not uncommon in California sea lions.

The elephant seals that are rescued by The Center in the spring are generally pups that are separated from their mothers or from their pupping grounds during winter storms. Storms can escalate the number of unhealthy or lost pups; in the heavy storm year of 1998, an estimated 70% of newborn elephant seal pups washed away from their rookery beaches. Other ES patients are "weaners," who are emaciated and weak, apparently having been unable to find sufficient food. Juvenile elephant seals are often rescued suffering from skin disease that can be minor with fur loss or severe with animals having large septic wounds. Currently, The Center's Science Department is completing an intensive study of the skin disease to determine its origin and improve treatment.

Most rescued harbor seals are premature or orphaned pups. We rarely rescue adult harbor seals. This is surely related to their tendency to haul out on offshore rocks, sandbars and secluded beaches with little or no access by humans. Also adult harbor seals are very apprehensive of people and, if approached, go quickly into the water.
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How are medications administered?
We give medication in several ways. Some medication is given by injections, which sometimes requires that several people be on hand to restrain the animal. If the animal is eating, medication, along with vitamin supplements and salt tablets, is inserted in a fish at feeding time. This is the least traumatic way for an animal to get medication if the medicine is in tablet or capsule form. For animals being fed formula rather than solid food, the pills are ground up and added to the formula.
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Do the animals bite?
Yes! Even though these animals may look cute and cuddly, they are wild animals. Even though it is more difficult to deal with animals that are aggressive, we want them to stay that way since it means that they probably have a better chance of surviving once we release them back to the wild. On rescues and in rehabilitation, we try not to give the animals the opportunity to bite; when they do so, it is usually done in self-defense, rather than the desire to attack.
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Do the animals like us? Do volunteers get attached to them?
Because the animals come to associate our presence with food at certain times each day, they do sometimes respond to our presence by coming closer to the pen gates or vocalizing as we walk by. However, we can still frighten them easily by moving too quickly, making too much noise, or trying to move or restrain them. Many of them do come to "tolerate" us; very occasionally a young animal will actually seem to "like" us. All of these animals are wild, and it is our intention to release them back into the ocean. While we get attached to them, we make every effort not to create a bond of friendship with any animal. Such a bond would decrease the likelihood of an animal surviving in the wild; gaining an animal's trust means that the animal depends on you for something. This dependency would make survival in the wild much more difficult. It is much to the animal's advantage to avoid humans. Animals near boats, docks and public beaches suffer more from human-related problems like gunshot wounds, net entanglements, swallowed fish hooks, etc. We don't want to perpetuate those problems by releasing human-imprinted animals.
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Are these animals intelligent?
There are many different standards for measuring intelligence. By our standards, California sea lions and dolphins are very intelligent, because they can be taught "tricks" like balancing balls, jumping through hoops and recovering objects under water while blindfolded. Many people are not aware that researchers are studying dolphin's and sea lions' ability to learn a language, their memory skills, and ability to solve simple logic problems (e.g. A=B, B=C, therefore A=C). See the Time Magazine article "Can Animals Think?", March 22, 1993. Dolphins and sea lions can be trained to understand a basic language and respond to complicated commands, showing much more "intelligence" than we thought.

However, our standards of judging "intelligence" should never be the final test. Marine mammals are well adapted to their ocean environment; they can easily find food, escape predators, and sense what is going on in their underwater habitat. In addition, they have a complex social structure

Humans don't view other marine mammals such as elephant seals and harbor seals as "intelligent," but this could be because their body shape and general personality aren't as well suited for training. By the standards of the ocean ecosystem, these animals are beautifully adapted to their environment and the responses it demands of them. This adaptability might be called "intelligence." They have incredible skills at finding food, escaping predators and sensing what is going on in their underwater environment. They also have a complex social structure and modes of communication that we do not entirely understand.
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What do the animals' noises mean?
Vocalizations may serve several purposes. Some animals, particularly young ones, vocalize to get attention when they want food. Other vocalizations are signs of aggression and warn other animals (or animal care volunteers) to be careful. Large male California sea lions bark to advertise their dominance; their voice is part of their display. Some animals may vocalize at The Center when they are stressed.
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How is The Center staffed?
The Center is staffed by more than 800 active volunteers and about 40 paid staff members.
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How does one become a volunteer?
Originally founded by three volunteers, The Center relies heavily on a dynamic volunteer work force comprised of over 800 individuals. In our expanding and exciting environment, the energy and dedication of many kinds of people are needed to keep The Center running smoothly. While some volunteer assignments require you to be 18 years of age, there are special youth opportunities for those under 18. Volunteering at The Marine Mammal Center is fun and a great way to meet others who share your concern for wildlife and our ocean environment. Your special talents can make an important contribution! Want to know more or ready to commit? Start by attending a new volunteer orientation.
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How many veterinarians work at The Center?
The Center has two staff veterinarians who make the major decisions regarding each animal's treatment. Three registered veterinary technicians oversee husbandry or daily animal care and assist the veterinarians with medical care.
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