It’s been a crazy week with seal pups in various parks and on private property in Seattle, Everett, Shoreline and West Seattle. Responding to such a diverse area can be challenging for an all-volunteer group. Seal Sitters just completed training for more volunteers who live Seattle-side and areas north, all of whom are anxious to pitch in and help marine mammals. Thanks to the Discovery Park staff for donating the use of the Visitor Center for our training.

We have a great group of dedicated volunteers and we try our best to respond in the quickest manner possible; please keep in mind that some of the more remote locations can require significantly more response time - and with a number of pups on shore, the network can be stretched pretty thin. If you are waiting for a network volunteer to arrive, please keep people and dogs away. Note, too, that not all locations require volunteers to remain on site once an animal has been assessed and a perimeter established. It is our more urban areas that require vigilance by volunteers to keep the animal safe from the public and dogs. Off leash dogs remain the biggest danger to a vulnerable seal pup. Repeatedly, our volunteers have to remind people that it is illegal for dogs to be on city beaches and an unsafe situation for both seal pups and dogs. Yesterday, we had a very young seal pup at Lincoln Park and numerous problems with dogs on the beach. No one loves dogs more than our volunteers! PLEASE respect that other animals need time to rest on the beach in order to survive.

Shown in the video above is seal pup Smooch, resting Wednesday on the rocks, virtually unnoticed by passersby as the sun set. You can hear a kingfisher twitter, people chatter and the sound of traffic zooming by on the street above him.

Tags: Smooch