Pebbles was nowhere to be seen again today. Pup were spotted swimming offshore, however, but there was no way to identify them because they were too far away. Pebbles has a very unique marking under his right nostril so if he were in close enough, we would be able to recognize him. After consultation with WDFW’s marine mammal research biologist, it has been confirmed that the pup is weaned. We had found a number of bones in his waste. Apparently, of all the many necropsies WDFW has performed on seal pups, no stomach contents have yet to consist of both food and mother’s milk at the same time. This leads to the conclusion that once a pup begins the weaning process, nursing is not continued by the mom. So, Pebbles is out there trying to make a living on his own now. Let’s hope he can master the art of fishing, continues to be a very healthy blubberball, and makes a reappearance on our beaches. In 2007, Spud hauled out for a number of days and then disappeared, but returned fat and happy two weeks later - much to the joy of our volunteers.

Added note: Our crack of dawn volunteers are happy to report that, while waiting patiently to see if Pebbles would haul out this morning, a very friendly fisherman thanked us, told us how much he supported our work and that he disapproved of the attitudes of some of his fishermen colleagues. That was a real boost to our spirits and made us smile in the drizzly darkness. We would like to add that there were many fishermen and pleasure boaters who gladly went a bit out of their way to accommodate Pebbles over the few days he was at the ramp - and we cannot thank them enough.

Tags: Pebbles