Dedicated volunteers have been putting in many long hours protecting seal pups along Alki Beach since sunrise Monday morning. One pup (at right), nicknamed Kitten by a some youngsters who quietly studied him snoozing below the sea wall, seems to have chosen this relatively quiet spot on the beach for his haul-out, well away from the bustle of the main beach and volleyball nets.

Volunteers looked over him in shifts, talking to the public and letting people know that undisrupted rest is vital to a pup’s survival. Much to our surprise, that evening another pup flopped ashore right next to two women picnicking on the beach. They quickly gathered up their blankets and cooler and graciously moved down the beach. They named the pup Irie, which means happy in the Jamaican language. Both pups returned to the Sound at almost precisely the same moment, about 8pm.

Kitten, who is a “weaner” with fully erupted teeth, is definitely thinner than we’d like to see. He was back on shore at 6am yesterday morning along with Irie, who returned to the water about 6:30am. Kitten apparently needs more rest and stayed on the beach until late last night before finally returning to the Sound to forage.

It could be another long day for volunteers, such as Ruby shown at right drawing seals in her sketchpad while on duty. Huge flipper hugs to Tammy and Alki Juice and Java for extending a special coffee and hot chocolate discount to our volunteers!

PUPDATES
8/31/13
Seal pup Irie was found dead near the Alki Bathhouse on August 31st. The thin pup was not fresh enough for necropsy and was marked for identification purposes with biodegradable spray paint and returned to the Sound.

9/3/13
We are so sad to report that Kitten was found dead on private beach yesterday morning and transported for necropsy by WDFW-MMI in Lakewood. The female pup weighed only 7.9 kg with a .3 cm blubber thickness. A normal thickness for robust pup is between 2.5 and 3 cm. She was suffering from gastroenteritis.

Tags: Kitten, Irie