Considering that most of the stories I have shared recently has ended on pretty tragic terms, I thought I’d try to share at least a more “hopeful” current story.

            Although this animal’s condition is still very “guarded” and it’s not quite certain if she will manage to fully recover or not at this point.  However, she has overcome several great hurdles already.

            This would be the story of a female adult Northern Fur Seal going by the name Monahan.  Sadly, she arrived at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito severely emaciated and suffering from symptoms of Domoic Acid Poisoning.

            It would only be the second year now that we’ve started seeing adult Northern Fur Seals making it to shore and stranding with Domoic Acid Poisoning.  It’s a very ominous sign.  Northern Fur Seals are that of a pelagic species and don’t typically come too close to shore.  And their food sources are usually further out to sea.

            To see them coming in with Domoic Acid Poisoning and being emaciated tells two things.  One is that we have over-fished so much that there’s not enough food for them.  The second is that they are so desperate for food that they are traveling more inland and eating the &ldquooisoned fish” that’s carrying the Domoic Acid poisoning.

            This poisoning is actually caused by a protozoa that resides within certain algal blooms.  The algal blooms were considered a “naturally occurring” cycle at one point.  But in recent years the algal blooms have become more and more “common/prevalent” and now there are different scientific communities arguing as to how “natural” these algal blooms are.  It is believed that there are more of these toxic algal blooms due to agricultural “run-off” as well as global warming among a few other factors.

            As for the over-fishing…well, very few communities wish or will admit to it being a real problem.  As humans, we at least have “options” as to what we may consume.  Unfortunately for the Marine Mammals, they are very limited as to what they may choose as a “food source”.  They may be able to eat different “fish”.  But no matter what, they still need fish to survive.

            Sooo Northern Fur Seal Monahan came to shore.  She stranded at Morro Strand State Beach in San Luis Obispo County off the California coast.  She was transported all the way up north to the main hospital out at Fort Cronkhite in Sausalito, California.

            When she first arrived she appeared to be on “death’s door”.  She was non-responsive to any sight, sound or touch.  And her breathing was labored.  The first week, she was put on a regiment of Phenobarbital in an attempt to control any seizures. 

            Keep in mind that we don’t have a lot of information or knowledge as to how to successfully treat a Northern Fur Seal suffering from Domoic Acid Poisoning.  It was just the previous year that we had started seeing Fur Seals affected with Domoic Acid Poisoning.

            Northern Fur Seals are different from their brethren California Sea Lions.  And at most, we found that the drugs aren’t as effective on fur seals as it has been on California Sea Lions.  Of course, at this time we also don’t have the years of studies on Fur Seals to know the different affects the poisoning has on them compared to the California Sea Lion.

            In any case, Monahan was treated with the Phenobarbital regiment being the only medicine we know of to help them and give them a chance.  For that first week, she appeared to be in and out of it.  One moment improving, the next moment not looking so good. 

            One of the Veterinarians attempted to palpate her abdomen to try and determine if she was pregnant but she was so distended at the time and more “up” at that moment that the doctor couldn’t make a solid determination.

            To be on the “safe side” drugs were administered to attempt to prompt her to abort if she did happen to be pregnant (that was on a Friday).  At that time parts of the placenta were expelled and the doctor at that time thought that she must have self aborted the pup before she was rescued and admitted to the Center.

            As it turned out, that wasn’t the case.  Sunday morning we came in to crew to find a very down Northern Fur Seal in agonizing pain with just the hint of little fetus flippers protruding out of her vagina.

            We called Vet Staff once again.  But once again, the powers that be made it near impossible for any medical staff to make it up.  A Running event was taking place and parts of the road were closed not making it possible for them to get there.

            At first we waited for a time to see if Monahan could push the fetus out on her own.  But after some time she had made no progress.  And it was beyond apparent that the fetus itself was already necrotic. 

            It was then that we made the choice to assist her in removing the necrotic fetus before too much time would elapse and it would kill her.

            I gently held the front part of her while another crew member held her back flippers while a third crew member with the smallest hands pulled the necrotic fetus out.  At that time while the fetus was still within her it was as though she had no strength at all.  And she just kept groaning and crying. 

            Amazingly the moment the fetus popped out, Monahan suddenly sat upright and in the blink of an eye was active as if a huge weight had been removed from her.  Just to see the life come to her followed by her sudden surge of energy just brought tears to all of us.

            We quickly wrapped and covered the fetus within a towel and kept it out of Monahan’s view.  And then put her on some subcutaneous fluid therapy. 

            The fetus had been passed breach.  And upon taking a closer look, it was beyond clear and evident that the pup was deformed and would have had other congenital issues had it been carried to term.

            Fortunately for Monahan, it appears we were able to remove the necrotic fetus before she herself went into toxic shock from having carried the dead pup in her for an unknown amount of time.  It’s not clear if the pup aborted when the drugs had been administered or if it had already aborted before then and that she was just carrying it within her.

            She’s now back to eating fish.  She’s finished her regiment of Phenobarbital.  And is now on a regiment of antibiotics in an attempt to try and protect her from any possible infection after the abortion.

            Her condition is still “guarded” at this point but she has come very from how she first arrived.  With any luck, she will continue to improve and hopefully we’ll be able to “fatten” her up and eventually be deemed releasable.  At least that is the hope.   

            Granted this was some time ago now, when I was on another crew at The Marine Mammal Center but it is another moment in time that is still very vivid in my mind that I cannot wipe away or get out of my thoughts.

            It was a Saturday night.  Another long Saturday night.  It has always been difficult to get consistent “help” on the night crews.  Particularly on the weekends. 

            It was at the end of the shift.  We were actually pretty much considered done with all the “animal care” aspects of the night.  We were just going through our final walk through to make sure all the critters were still alive and tucked away for the night.

            As I headed down one of the rows it just suddenly caught my eye that one of the pools in one of the end pens was just crimson red.  There was only one animal in the pen.  An adult California Sea Lion.  She was suspected as having Domoic Acid Poisoning and was being treated and observed based on that prognosis.

            The first thought was that she may have miscarried a pup if she may have happened to have been pregnant.  That wouldn’t have been so out of the ordinary.  One of the symptoms of Domoic Acid Poisoning is seizures.  And part of the treatment for Domoic Acid Poisoning is to put an affected animal on a Phenobarbital regiment to get the seizures under control. 

            If we are unable to control the seizures, in affect, the patient’s brain will pretty much become “fried” and will not stop firing off signals repeatedly.  This leads to behavior where the animal may start continuously biting itself or inanimate object.  It may also start eating things that would not be food such as rocks and other flotsam and jetsam debris out in the open waters.  In some female California Sea lions there is also noted highly aggressive behavior where they will start “chasing” after people when the normal behavior would be to take off in the opposite direction from any human.   

            The Domoic Acid Poisoning (known as toxic shellfish poisoning in humans) greatly affects their hippocampus (causing atrophy) in that region of their brain.  It causes memory problems as well as navigational issues within an affected animal.

            And at this time it has been confirmed that the Domoic Acid Poisoning passes the placental barrier from mom to pup.  So pups/fetuses may either be born with neurological problems or other birth defects or the poisoning and seizures alone may cause the mom to self-abort.  And in even sadder cases, mom may carry the pup to term and give birth but her brain damage may be so terribly bad that she may abandon the pup that in turn starves to death and is just left to the elements.

            Even more difficult is the same drugs being used to try and treat the female California Sea Lion and save her from the poisoning can in turn also lead to her to abort.  It is a matter of there being a “no win” scenario with however we try to treat the animal.

            But that’s just a little “back story” on one illness that has affected these magnificent creatures and continues to become more and more common and affecting multiple other Marine Mammal Species.

            As it turned out, this particular adult female California Sea Lion hadn’t aborted any pup.  It was just our first initial and most plausible explanation for all the blood.

            Upon taking a closer look, 75% of the pen floor was just covered in blood.  The sea lion was at first just tucked in a kind of fetal position herself in one corner of the pen.

            We went in to try and determine where all the blood was coming from.  At that moment we still didn’t know that it wasn’t a miscarriage.  Initially looking at her in her current position all tucked up no injuries were visible. 

            And then just as we lifted up one of her front flipper a steady stream of blood just sprayed forward.  It was completely surreal.  Internally an artery had been lacerated to the point and twisted under one of her flipper bones that had so much pressure that it had ruptured through her skin.

            It was a moment of complete disbelief.  Anatomically speaking, the artery should have been on the outer part of her flipper and not on the inside part.  When we first realized the severity of the situation, the sea lion was still very down. 

            A part of the team rushed to get a hold of one of the Veterinarians to get out to the site as soon as possible.  Another crew member and myself tried taking towels and applying pressure to the blood spraying from her flipper. 

            But again, the animal came out of its “flat” state and began to slide around the pen.  We didn’t want to let her continue to bleed to death but neither did we want to stress the animal to where she would continuously bleed all the more quickly.  

            I went to my knees at that point just looking at the poor girl pleading with her to just settle back down and rest.  I had tears welled up in my eyes.  And I cannot describe the look from this Sea Lion.  My fellow volunteer began to wretch at the sight and smell of so much blood.

            Thankfully this sea lion did calm back down and her blood finally started to clot.  The bleeding did slow and eventually stopped.  We silently washed and cleaned all the blood away out of the pen and drained the pool.

            One of the Veterinarians did make it in that night and observed her.  And again, it was determined that all we could do at that point was let her be and hope that she would just continue to rest.

            Come to find out that it was pretty miraculous that she had survived so much blood loss.  By all intents and purposes she should have been dead from bleeding as much as she had.  At the same time, Sea Lions have a special talent at shunting their blood supplies when wounded which is how some of them manage to survive and recover from shark attacks and other traumas if they are so fortunate.

            It was some days later that the head Veterinarian operated on this girl only to find out that at some point in time this poor sea lion had some kind of physical trauma to that flipper and the bone within that flipper was going necrotic which is what led to the artery slipping and getting twisted on the inside of the flipper.

            She underwent at least two surgical procedures removing necrotic bone within that flipper.  Unfortunately, in her case, the damage from the initial trauma she sustained was too great and her bones were just continuing to die.  And there was nothing that could be done to stop her bones from going necrotic. 

            When it was determined that her bones were just going to continue to die on her, it was then that she was euthanized to save her from a far more painful and agonizing death.

            But I will never forget the feeling that I had that night applying pressure to her bleeding flipper and praying for some miracle that she wouldn’t just bleed to death or the look within that animal’s eyes and just the sight of so much blood.

            At the very most we really gave it our all to give her a fighting chance to recover.  And when there was no “happy outcome” to her condition, she was given a calm and relatively painless way out.

      What has truly become of the human spirit?  What is “imagined” vs. what is “real”?  In my thoughts and ideas I knew the meaning of the word empathy but I decided to look up how the Webster-Mirriam Dictionary folks define it.

            In the Webster-Mirriam Dictionary “empathy” would be defined as follows:

Main Entry: em·a·thy ">
Pronunciation: 'em-p&-thE
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek empatheia, literally, passion, from empathEs emotional, from em- + pathos feelings, emotion -- more at PATHOS
1 : the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2 : the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this

            It’s not a particularly “bad” definition.  Although I don’t quite agree with emotions/feelings being “imaginatively” projected.  Certainly in some cases some individuals may press to believe they connect more so with some others than is there in actuality (hence certain stalker situations that some people go through). 

            But overall, as a whole I cannot believe that connections are merely “imagined”.  It’s more believable that the Western ends of the world as well as other places are just becoming more and more disconnected and cynical.  And it would be those very people looking to “control” and “define” everything.

            It’s even more saddening to see how quickly roots/origins/history has been being forgotten and wiped away like it never was.  In some ways I believe to forget where we have come from is to lose one’s soul and spirit. 

            And if you lose that, then there really isn’t much left.  Not to say that we should be “living in the past”.  But in order to continue to grow and develop and truly advance we have to know and be fully aware of where we’ve come from.

            Of course there may be things that we don’t want to remember or are ashamed to admit or reflect on as far as anyone’s individual roots/origins.  But again to me, you cannot have all “good” without the “bad”.  Nobody is perfect.  And I don’t see the pendulum of “right” and “wrong” to stop swinging anytime soon.

            Too many times the constant push has been “Can we do it?” rather than asking ourselves “Should we do it?”

            Too many times it is the people with the heart and soul and thoughts of reason that are obliterated or just labeled as the “crazies” by the mass society.  The mass society that I refer to as the “human locusts”.  The ones who will consume everything in sight with little to no reason. 

            I cannot believe that what I feel and how I have “connected” to others is simply “imagined”.  To me, aside from the further scientific studies that we continue to try and discover through the labyrinths of human minds, “empathy” like that of a sixth or seventh sense.

            Words and speech actually make up so little of any species communication structure.  Even us as humans, we rely so much more on body language and other “signals” from fellow humans rather than believe any words spoken or written.

            Not to say that the written word doesn’t hold any meaning.  But it still relies heavily on what you actually see and feel behind the words.

            No one will ever tell me that I don’t really “connect” with animals or other certain human individuals.  No one will ever tell me that it is just “imagined”.

            Tell that to the feral cats and kittens that have clung to me and not lashed out that would have taken anyone else’s arm off.  Tell that to the countless adult Sea lions who could have easily knocked me down or done serious damage but never did.  Tell that to all the birds and countless other wildlife that I have encountered that has never harmed me but could have.