Over the last few days, volunteers have been lugging stakes, signs and tape from beach to beach as pup season is definitely now in full swing in West Seattle. Seal pup Sleepy has used the same stretch of Lincoln Park beach for three days now, but his health has declined. Yesterday, a volunteer managed (with a long telephoto lens) to get a photograph of a deep wound underneath his front flipper. He returned to Puget Sound in the afternoon, but came ashore again early evening. When our volunteer checked his resting spot at dawn this morning, there was no sign of Sleepy - but instead two people with an offleash dog fetching sticks in the water. As we have mentioned over and over in our blog posts, dogs are NOT allowed on any Seattle city beaches. With limited resources for rehabbing seal pups, we need to give them the time to rest and, hopefully, heal.

A gorgeous little pup has been using West Seattle’s city side beaches for three days now. Nicknamed Blanco (photo above) for his white coat, this pup is very alert and seemingly healthy. A baby seagull seems to have befriended him, pestering Blanco as he tries to sleep. The baby seagulls of WS seem intrigued by these unusual new visitors. Many, many thanks to Alki Kayak Tours and customers for their cooperation in making sure that Blanco rested under somewhat trying circumstances today - it truly was an example of “sharing the shore”.

Thanks to our dedicated volunteers who have been putting in very long days. We reap huge rewards knowing that we might allow even one pup a better chance at survival; seal pups only have a 50% chance of surviving their first year. The joy of seeing a pup stretch, yawn and doze on our watch never diminishes.

Tags: Blanco, Sleepy