Seabright couple could face charges for seal pup's death

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

Seabright couple could face charges for seal pup's death
By ROGER SIDEMAN
sentinel staff writer
SANTA CRUZ — Federal investigators said Friday they are preparing to file charges against a Santa Cruz couple suspected of taking a two-day-old harbor seal pup from the beach back to their home.

The pup was found by a volunteer rescuer in the pair's backyard late last month. The pup died hours later after an unsuccessful attempt to reunite it with its mother, said Doug Ross, a volunteer with the Marine Mammal Center.

Ross believes the pair carried the pup to their Seabright home after spotting it beside the San Lorenzo River mouth. Ross said he found the pup in a dog crate after receiving an early-morning emergency call the couple made to a 24-hour seal rescue hot line.

Roy Torres, an investigating officer with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Pebble Beach, said the agency is in the process of completing its investigation into the incident. The agency enforces the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which prohibits any disturbance to a marine mammal in the wild. No names will be released until charges are filed.

"They wouldn't let me in the house, and I found it around the back," said Ross, who is trained to handle orphan seals. "I took it back to the original spot, hoping the mother would find and nurse it."

After waiting for almost two hours, the mother was still nowhere to be found.

Still breathing, but hungry and losing heat, Ross drove the pup to a Marine Mammal Center rescue station in Moss Landing, where volunteers attempted to stabilize it with fluids and heat.

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"The mothers would be warming it," said volunteer Sue Andrews.

She estimated the pup's age at two days based on its umbilical cord, still attached, pink and bloody.

"They're very tiny and cute, just the right size to pick up in your arms," Andrews said.

It weighed 14 pounds, she said.

Harbor seal pups stay with their mothers for a 30-day nursing period. Most live for 20 years.

Experts are reminding people to leave the seals alone. Every year, well-intentioned beachgoers take pups left on the beach while their mothers forage for food. This is the first incident of the year at the San Lorenzo River, Ross said. Last year alone, more than 10 pups were illegally picked up off California beaches.

For information, visit marinemammalcenter.org, or call their hot line at 633-6298.