Harbor Views

We have three harbor seal yearlings in the hospital.  They are all very curious and playful and all are starting to eat well.

First up is Boo.  He came to the Foundation on September 29th from Fire Island.   He was very small for his age and has a few tummy scars from where a shark tried to use him for lunch.

Within no time Boo had gained a bunch of weight and started to display his nosy nature.   He refuses to let me test his water quality unless he can sniff the equipment first.  I was sure he would be my first seal story "Oh did you hear that Barbara went in to test tank A's water and he escaped into the parking lot".

Boo will be released on Thanksgiving at 11am in Southampton. 

Our next little patient is a female. 

She was rescued in Westhampton with some respiratory issues and a few wounds to her underside.  She's such a sweetie and likes to let the whirlpool action of her tank take her round and round. 

Our last patient is another male. 

He's another one that seems to have been munched on by sharks.  He is very chatty, I think he's trying to impress the girl in the tank across the way.  When I fed him today he took all of his fish and put it on one side of the tank then he ate it.  Very interesting eating system, not sure it will work out as well for him in the wild. 

So this is it for the new kids on the block this week.  I'm hoping to hit the beaches this week and start looking for turtles.

Turtle Time

Its turtle season in the north east.   The Riverhead Foundation cares for anywhere from 20-40 turtles brought in during cold stun season.  Since there are just not enough hours in the day or bodies in the rescue center, the public is really key in finding the turtles that need help.  So  here's a bit of info to get you started as a turtle rescue beach patroller!

The term “cold stunning” refers to the hypothermic reaction that occurs when sea turtles are exposed to prolonged cold water temperatures.  Sea turtles are cold-blooded reptiles that depend on external sources of heat to determine their body temperature.   In cold water they do not have the ability to warm themselves, so  they migrate down to warmer waters.  Once the ocean water temperature reaches 50 °F turtles start becoming susceptible to cold stunning.

The cold water slows the turtles body functions and they wash up on shore.  Once they wash up on the beach the window for recovery starts to close.  Without proper intervention and care the turtle will die.  



Kemp's Ridley

The smallest member of the sea turtle family, this reptile is also considered the most endangered.  Kemp's Ridley sea turtles have a distinctive round to heart-shaped shell that ranges in color from gray-brown to olive to black. The underside is yellowish on adults and white on juveniles.

Release of Atlantis cold stunned 2010

Green Sea Turtles

Green sea turtles are named for the green color of the fat under their shells.  The green sea turtle is olive-brown to black on its shell and its underside is yellowish white.

Release of Jetty, cold stunned 2010

Loggerhead Sea Turtles

The loggerhead sea turtle is perhaps the most common of the sea turtles   The are normally reddish/tanish/orange on both their shell and their undersides.

Release of Atlas, cold stunned 2008

Now you know what you are looking for you just need the how.

Dress warmly, in layers and wear comfortable shoes.  

Bring a garbage bag along and help keep the beach clean while you're looking for turtles

You can patrol at any time, but the chances are greater for finding a turtle if you patrol after high tide, particularly after storms or extremely cold weather.

Search the entire beach from the dune line to the water line, check the water for floating turtles and look through the high tide line for turtles buried beneath the dried seaweed.

The turtles may be upside down so keep their underside colors in mind as much as their shell colors.

If you find a turtle, call the 24-hour Rescue Hotline at 631-369-9829 immediately for further instructions and to arrange a pick up for both live and dead sea turtles.  

When you call try to be as specific and accurate of your location as possible.  It puts the turtles in danger if the rescue team member is hopelessly lost trying to find you.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WARM THE TURTLE!!! Rapid warming may cause irreversible
damage to a cold-stunned reptile.

Don't put the turtle in water.  Just try to create some protection from the elements until a rescue team member can get there.  

 If you have to leave the area before the rescue team arrives, CLEARLY mark the location of the turtle so that it can be quickly located

Happy Birthday to Me

For those who don't see facebook I have a Crowdrise fund to raise money to rehab seals.  Please consider donating here instead of any gifts or cards.

http://www.crowdrise.com/sully/fundraiser/mrgn

This is Halloween

So here's the skinny on the decor this year.  It's a bit less than in the past due to a much needed October vacation.  I will be updating the blog for vacation later in the week.

First up, an overall look at the front yard/graveyard.  I gave my landscaper a break this year, no potting soil everywhere.  I think next year I'll stock up on some moss and toss it around instead.

Since the wind was so calm this year I got to break out my costume kids!

Front door with the wreath and floral arrangements that I made myself.  The original "pot" for the flowers was going to be an urn but I couldn't find one I liked.  So I improvised with what I had lying around from a last minute frenzy shopping spree.

This year's kiddie spooker was a butler with an Edgar Allen Poe fetish

I went with a bit of a bug thing.  I think next year I may expand the little suckers.

This year's graveyard included a few new elements.  First is the pumpkin graveyard.  The best part is these are mostly foam pumpkins so they're all set to go for next year.  I already have an idea to expand it.

The more "traditional" portion of the graveyard included a pair of tailgaters.

So that's about it this year.  I saved a ton of money by doing more projects and less store bought finished product.  I also had a lot more fun.  

You're gonna need a bigger boat

So I was going to do this whole write up on the daily chores list for the foundation but I fell asleep halfway through.  I'll scan and post the list up sometime instead and save you all the nap.

The Foundation has a new patient.  

He has no official name yet so I just call him Bubba.  He's a harbor seal that was rescued in Water Island on Fire Island.    He's very underweight, barely 20 lbs and he has wounds and cuts on his hind flippers and underside.  His injuries are consistent with a shark attack.   Not sure how if this is viewable outside of Facebook but here is a video of his rescue.

I received more valuable training this week.  Thanks to my new friend Bubba I've been officially trained in cleaning seal poop off the tank ledges.  Oh happy day!

This past weekend I worked the Fall Wildlife Festival at the Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center in Jones Beach.  Not a shabby place to be stuck in October honestly.  The center has lots of really neat stuff for kids inside and "environmental boardwalks" made of sea shells outside.  Many of the dunes are still roped off to protect the plover areas but you can still get great views of whatever happens to be hanging out.  Our table/tent area was up against one of the butterfly gardens. Poor me right!

Its planning time

Oh I love Halloween.  I love everything about it, the chill in the air, the costumes, the decorations.  Especially the decorations.  This year I have started the planning very early.  I have magazines, web pages and tv shows.  I'm going to do more of the decorating myself instead of buying things.  Should be interesting since I'm not the most artistic person in the world.  But I think its do-able.  I'll post pictures as things progress.  I can't wait!!

A Farewell to Sully

This past Tuesday we released my seal.  Since I was working the release I wasn't able to get any of my own pictures.  These are courtesy of the Riverhead Foundation.

The opening of the gate

Fearlessly heading to the water

Going out to sea...or is he

A quick right

WTF with the walls people

James!  This is where he noticed and charged one of the biologists

When he realized we weren't going to let him eat James he turned away

This time he was out for good.

It was sad to say goodbye to Sully, but the ocean is where he belongs.  No tank really is large enough to contain his personality.  

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building

This past weekend the foundation had a big turtle release blowout.  Harmony, Stu, Elvis and Jetty were all given their walking papers and sent back to the ocean to terrorize other marine life.  Evil little splashing creatures!

Jetty, always the ringleader, lead the gang into the surf.

This leaves poor little Chestnut all alone in the big turtle tanks.  He doesn't seem to be able to get the height or distance on his splash that Jetty and Elvis could handle.

Its starting to get quiet in the hospital as almost all the patients have been released.  Now its time to start getting everything prepared for cold stun season.

Don't hate her because she's beautiful

Meet Celeste

I'm too sexy for my tank

Celeste is a "tax day" gray seal, she was brought in on April 15th.  This summer she developed a nasty case of seal pox, poor baby.  Seal pox is similar to human pox, so she's had a bunch of bumps all over.  She had to be fed and handled separately from the other seals.    She's looking much better the past few weeks and she's starting to play more in her tank.  Today she played make Barbara guess the sounds coming from my tank.

 

 

I can haz cheeseburger?

She's having a physical tomorrow so with any luck she'll be all better and ready to start coming off her meds.  Celeste is up for adoption if you'd like to help this sweet face.

"Never work with children or animals" W.C. Fields

Yesterday I took my turn at Jaws' tank.  Its nothing special, just scrub the tank, time his breathing when he comes up for air and talk to any crowds that form about who he is and what he's doing in our cetacean tank.


The update on Jaws is that his non eating issues are pretty much normal behaviors of male sea turtles in captivity during mating season.  You could insert your joke now but just wait.


So about 3ish a crowd of about 30-40 kids forms outside the tank so I go to talk with them.  I'm all researched in things Jaws, I'm fielding all sorts of normal kid type questions with ease.  Oh I'm getting much much better at all of this now.  And then it happened.


"Excuse me but what is he doing now"


It seems that Jaws swam from the side of the pool to the center and proceeded to mate with the drain.  That's right kiddies Jaws is masturbating for the crowd.

I can't laugh, I can't cry and I'm pretty sure I can't tell 8 year olds the truth without causing a news headline.  What I did was take a deep breath, look small children right in the eye and say "oh he just has an itch".  That's right I lied.  Or evaded the specific truth.  It really depends on your perspective and if you want some random stranger and 400 lb turtle teaching your child about sex.

Uno, Due, Tre

The weather was nice so I decided to set up my study plan for the Enrolled Agents exam on my laptop outside on the patio.   I like to think of the EA exam as the IRS punishing me for making "bad" career choices when I got out of college.  Damn me for wanting to make a living and move out of my parents house....

Before I could get properly started I had to make my daily Starbucks run for my green tea fix.  I started to place my order, a venti iced green tea - no sweetener - when the nice people behind the counter informed me that the trenta cups had arrived.  They wanted to know if I wanted to try one.

I'm no Samwise Gamgee of course I want the bigger size!  I waited and dreamed of my massive new tea that would surely last me all through the day.  Turns out 10oz more isn't all that big a jump visually.  I sadly did not get my Prancing Pony moment.

So here I am having a break from setting up my next three weeks worth of study time.  I have to say the waterfall upgrade I made this year in my yard was worth it.  Its a nice bit of white noise that drowns out some of the more urban sounds of my neighborhood.

I've been avoiding this test all summer.  But with fall coming I can't much hide from it.  Its just such a test of minutia meh.  Here's an example of an actual question:

Your client buys a piano in 1988.  Ten years later he has it tuned and finds a bag that contains $100,000 in cash inside the piano.  Is this a taxable event?

I love my clients really.  But if it took them ten years to tune it I'd have some questions about throwing away money on things they don't use.  I mean wouldn't that kind of money effect the sound quality and shouldn't you tune it more often anyway?  And damnit look what you did, you told me about it and now I have to put it on your tax return.

Seriously this is something I need to remember?  I can't just research the problem like other accountants? So off I go to cram tons of mostly useless tax information in my head.  Yay!

Turtles Turtles Turtles

I've had quite the turtle week.  Last week for the first time in a while I fed the turtles.  What greedy little buggers they are.  And so very passive aggressive.  They love you when you're dropping squid in their tanks but the minute you stop the love is gone.  Once again Elvis and Jetty managed to soak down the back of my shirt while I fed the turtles in the tank next to them.

Elvis

Jetty

After hanging out with Beavis and Butthead I was sent to work on cleaning up the cetacean tank and I got to hang with its newest patient. 

This is Jaws.  Jaws is a 300lb loggerhead sea turtle.  He started out his life living in the Mall of America but soon outgrew his exhibit.  The Long Island aquarium adopted him 10 years ago and he's been happily living in the big shark tank ever since.  But over the past few weeks he hasn't been eating regularly so he was brought to the Foundation's tank to be monitored and get some special care.  Yesterday he ate a good bunch of squid and tried on more than one occasion to eat my scrub brush.  This was seen as a good thing, not the whole lets dunk the volunteer with her own scrub brush but the fact that he was looking for objects that may have food attached.

Lastly, Rudy, the Kemp's Ridley, who lives in the rescue center display tank, went to have an MRI this past week.  Interestingly he had his MRI done at the same facility where my dog Gimli had his MRI and back surgery done.  Long Island Veterinary Specialists  donated the cost of the MRI so the exact cause of Rudy's shell deformity could be determined.  It turns out that his shell issue is not related to the boat strike that brought him to us but to a permanent spinal deformity, similar to Scoliosis in humans.  He is now officially deemed unreleasable to the wild so now begins the search for a forever home for Rudy.  When you come see him at the rescue center and he isn't eating or is being fussy its probably due to some spinal discomfort more than his diva attitude.

How the world sees Rudy

How Rudy sees himself

Tour of the Foundation's Hospital Facility

The turtles eating in the video are the very evil and photogenic Elvis and Jetty

The impact of going meatless for just one day

Going meat free just one day a week has a larger impact on the environment then most people realize.
 
If you eat one less burger a week, it's like taking your car off the road for 320 miles.

If a four-person family skips meat and cheese one day a week, it's like taking your car off the road for five weeks -- or reducing everyone's daily showers by 3 minutes.

If a four-person family skips steak once a week, it's like taking a car off the road for nearly three months.

If everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would be like not driving 91 billion miles -- or taking 7.6 million cars off the road.

Its not too much to do, especially with so many great vegetarian and vegan options on the market these days.  Its just one day, can't kill you to try it.

A girl and her seal

I know the seals and the staff and volunteers are not supposed to get attached but once you've meet Sully that's just impossible.  This seal has just too much personality not to love.

Sully is a male gray seal pup that was found stranded in East Hampton underweight with a broken jaw.  Supposedly he was also lethargic but I've also heard rumors of him chasing the staff around the treatment room upon arrival so you let that little face help you decide what went wrong there!

The rest of the seals just swim, eat and sleep to pass the day but not Sully.  It doesn't much matter what you're doing near the tanks.  Whenever he sees a human he "stands" up in the water and just watches and waits.  If he thinks you're leaving without him, or more accurately, without feeding him, he starts jumping up and down in his tank making a huge racket and a small mess.

He is completely fascinated by the sights and sounds of what goes on around him.  Even when he eats he tosses his fish and catches it or he dances around the tank with it in his mouth.  He's just always having a good day.  I am still 100% positive he gets a massive kick out of scaring the crap out of me when I check his tank to make sure he's eating.  It really is something special to see a wild animal just having a few moments of pure joy.

There is a link to the hospital tank cams where you can see Sully in action.

Hospital Tank Cams

You will want to click the top camera.   He is the seal in the tank on your right.  You can play with the sizing and angles.  He's the active one usually bobbing up and down not swimming. 

Now that he has a and he's almost off all his medication he'll be released soon.  This one will be so bittersweet to see but I'll be there.  I was so blessed to be a part of his recovery, I'll never forget him.

CSI:Atlantic Beach

Last Thursday I attended my first necropsy.  A necropsy is just an autopsy done on a non human.

A finback whale had washed up dead on Atlantic Beach over on Long Beach.  He was about 43ish feet long, lets call him 25 tons.  According to the lead biologist he suffered a large blunt force trauma.  In normal people speak he was probably hit by a boat.  Because he was so huge we had to go to him and do everything on the beach. 

The one picture I did have time to take on my phone is a tad nasty so I found this one from the daily news.  Now please remember its a federal law that you must stand at least 150 feet from this animal dead or alive if its on the beach to begin with.  In addition dead things tend to carry disease, especially ones that have been dead for a few days.  Its just the natural cycle of life.  So with no further ado please find a picture of the whale and a moron.

My job during the necropsy was "scribe".  I followed the lead biologist around and wrote down everything she said.  Whether or not I could spell it was not important as long as she could figure it out later.  This was good news, my Latin marine mammal speak is very rusty.  Or non existent.  Whichever.

Kim moves very fast for a woman in rubber overalls in 90 degree weather on the beach running in whale guts.  Its not easy to keep up with her when you're not used to running around in rubber pants in 90 degree weather on the beach in whale guts.  Also 25 tons of whale that's been dead for 5 days smells really bad.  It wasn't so much the dead whale it was the the fact that his digestive tract was wide open and blowin in the breeze.  So imagine the worst baby diaper you've ever changed.  Then magnify that by 25 tons.  Then stand downwind of that.  In rubber pants.  In 90 degree heat.  In squishy whale guts.

I have to say the whole thing was really fascinating. A lot of it was large versions of our insides.  His colon was the size of my thigh.  Oh and I know it was a him because his left testicle was almost as big as my dog.  You get a new respect for your own inner workings when you see them trying to cut through to break down a whale into easily movable parts.  His ligaments where massive and amazingly strong.  His spine was awesome.  It was really very humbling to be a part of the whole experience. Also  there's a good chance I lost about 10 lbs just sweating in those damn pants.  I had to toss them and my boots away.  The dead whale smell refuses to leave. 

I had joked when we first started that they asked me to go in case an IRS audit broke out in the middle of the necropsy but Julika told me I did a good job.  She doesn't dole out praise often so I can live off that one for a long while.