This morning, our responder found Twiggy, still on the beach at Alki. She could see that the pup was in trouble. There was nothing to indicate last night that Twiggy had any health concerns, other than she was on the thin side. No wounds, labored breathing, or anything else to raise alarm. She simply slept peacefully on the beach access steps. However, at 5:30 this morning, her breathing was quite labored and she displayed other symptoms that she was in crisis. Twiggy was rescued from the beach - too weak to resist - and driven to PAWS. Attempts were made to stabilize her with oxygen and fluids, but the female pup died this morning. WDFW’s marine mammal biologist will perform a necropsy to determine the cause of her death. We will update you with the results when we receive them.

Another pup was found dead this morning at Constellation Park, but was not the seal pup Stella that has hauled out there the past two days. This is the time of year when pups are struggling to survive the weaning process and, sadly, we lose too many every season.

This is the most difficult facet of Seal Sitters’ work and takes a toll on everyone involved. We give heartfelt thanks to PAWS’ staff for trying to save Twiggy and thanks, as always, to Dyanna Lambourn for her sage advice very early on a Saturday morning.

Tags: Twiggy