Over the course of several days, a very active seal pup (nicknamed Polo) kept Seal Sitters’ responders on their toes, trying to keep pace with his haul-out patterns. The hotline received a call about a pup on the beach at 53rd and Alki around noon on Thursday, but the pup had already returned to the water when first responder Lynn arrived. Polo hauled out again twice in the early and late evening at the same location. A generous perimeter was set on the beach, but onlookers were treated to a very close view of the pup from the seawall.

On Friday, Polo came ashore and then left 5 different times during the day and evening. It was wisely decided to leave the tape perimeter intact to protect him during his frequent forays back and forth to the Sound. Polo broke his own haul-out record by round-tripping 6 times during the day and night on Saturday! Volunteers watched over him until after 10pm and a concerned neighbor (thank you, Leeann) held vigil until midnight. The pup was still snoozing soundly when Leeann left for home.

Polo was gone from the beach at 6am yesterday morning, but an alert walker noticed a pup sleeping near the water about an hour later. It was Polo, but this time he was in serious physical distress. He was immediately rescued and taken to PAWS for hydration and stabilization. Thankfully, PAWS had an open space for an incoming seal pup. The estimated 6-8 week old male pup weighs less than 8 kg (less than a newborn pup).

Polo showed no signs of health issues over the three days volunteers observed him, except for being underweight - a common problem with weaned seal pups. This just drives home the fact that these young pups are in a daily struggle to survive, while it may not be evident to us that there are underlying health issues. All of the pups we have looked after this season have been far too thin.

PAWS reported this morning that Polo did indeed survive the night. Please stayed tuned as we provide updates on his condition. Many thanks to the exhausted first responders and all the volunteers (and caring public) who protected sweet Polo along West Seattle’s shoreline.

PUPDATE
9/18/13
We received a report last evening that Polo is still stabilized at PAWS, though his condition is “guarded”. He is battling several health issues, including potential lung worm infection, and has multiple infected bite wounds (from an undetermined source). Lungworm is a serious problem in weaned seal pups. As struggling pups tend to lose weight while they transition from nursing to foraging for food, parasites can seize this opportunity to take over. Pups’ immune systems are not yet strong enough to fight off these lung and heart parasite loads. The “worming” treatment itself is terribly dangerous in itself for a weak pup. Polo has some major hurdles to overcome and we thank PAWS for their valiant efforts to save him.

9/19/13
Sadly, PAWS reports this morning that Polo has died. The pup was transferred to WDFW-MMI for necropsy.

Tags: Polo