Photo: Sea lion pup on Dunes Beach

We spotted this sea lion pup on Friday afternoon at Dunes Beach.  The Marine Mammal Center picked up a pup at Dunes Beach on Saturday.  The MMC is being "inundated" with calls right now, with 10 to 12 individuals reported per day and three to five deaths a day.  "We’re experiencing the remnants of an El Niño year. The resources are shifting and little sea lions don’t shift well with the resources", the Center says. The phone was ringing every couple of minutes while we talked to the folks at the MMC on Sunday.

The usual procedure is to allow seal lions to rest 24 hours on the beach before rescuing them. After that, they will be rescued, fed, and examined by a vet before release. 

Seal lions are born around mid-June and weaned after nine months, so this pup no longer needed to be with its mother.

If you see a sea lion in distress, contact the Marine Mammal Center at (415) 289-SEAL.