Dawn® Difference Diaries

10/11/06 Eagle Auto | Main | 10/15/06 Shark Bite

10/12/06 Free at Last

After a month and a half at the Marine Mammal Center, Eagle Auto was finally ready to be released! In addition to the domoic acid poisoning, she had also been recovering from being oiled at the car dealership where she was found. She had been thoroughly washed with dawn and had weeks of rehabilitation. After all that time in captivity, she was probably more than ready to get back to the ocean!

Since domoic acid causes neurological damage, it's unclear whether afflicted animals are able to survive and thrive in the wild after release. This is an extremely important question that is a matter of life or death for these animals. Therefore, part of Eagle Auto’s release preparation was tagging her with a satellite transmitter. The transmitter will provide information about her movements, diving behavior, water temperature, and location. The device was glued to the fur on the back of her neck. It's able to transmit for 300 days, but usually falls during the natural moulting cycle, if not sooner.

Watching Eagle Auto’s release preparation was pretty upsetting. It was hard to watch a wild animal being held down and having a bulky metal device glued to her fur. However, this tagging is extremely important in order to help other marine mammals with domoic acid poisoning. It’s kind of like going to the doctor or the dentist. Nobody really wants to do it, but you know its the right thing to do!

We released Eagle Auto on a beach in Fitzgerald, CA, where there are abundant food sources (see video). Hopefully she'll be able to grow and flourish with the rest of the sea lion population in the area. I was overjoyed to see her back in her natural environment.

Posted by Christy Buckley on Oct 14, 2006

Comments

Christy,
I am glad to see all you are doing for our fellow earthly inhabitants. It looks like you are having fun as well! Good luck on the rest of your trip.

Posted by:
Your pal Keith S. in Germany | Oct 16, 2006 6:35:39 AM

Comments

Thanks Keith!

Posted by:
Christy | Oct 16, 2006 9:00:08 PM

Post a comment

Information submitted below are screened (usually within 24hrs) for profanity & appropriateness before being published. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.

Name:

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Comment Guidelines:
This is a public space, viewable all over the world, so you should not post any confidential or personal information you don’t want to share with everyone. Comments are moderated and will not appear on this weblog until the site owner has reviewed them. By posting a comment, you agree that we can display, transmit, distribute, edit or delete your comment at any time, at our sole discretion, without needing further permission. When posting, please respect the following guidelines:

Use Appropriate Language.
Refrain from personal attacks, slurs, profanity, and other objectionable material. We will have no liability related to the content of your posting, whether or not arising under the laws of libel, privacy, obscenity, or otherwise.

Relevance.
Please make sure your responses are relevant to the posted entry. While topic drift is normal, we expect everyone engaging in the conversation to stay as close to the subject as possible.

Advertising/Solicitation.
Do not post unsolicited advertisements to this forum.

Privacy.
Any personally identifiable information we may collect from you is subject to the guidelines established in our Privacy Statement.

Additional Terms and Conditions.
Your use of this weblog is further subject to these Terms and Conditions.