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Covering 180 miles of Oregon coast travel: Astoria, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Manzanita, Nehalem, Wheeler, Rockaway, Garibaldi, Tillamook, Oceanside, Pacific City, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Newport, Waldport, Yachats & Florence. 05/29/08
North Oregon Coast Visited by Grumpy Sea Lion and Cute Seal
(Cannon Beach, Oregon) - A big, curmudgeonly sea lion and an adorable seal pup are lounging around two different beaches near Cannon Beach Thursday night. Both have signs posted around them to stay away, with one being dangerous to humans. "There is currently a California Sea Lion resting on the beach near the Stephanie Inn in Cannon Beach," said Tiffany Boothe, with Seaside Aquarium. "The sea lion seems to be a little thin and a bit tired. Other than that the sea lion is very active. Signs were posted around the sea lion to inform the public to give the sea lion some space and time to rest. If the sea lion stays on the beach his condition will be monitored." Crews from the Seaside Aquarium are part of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, which responded to these situations and posted the signs.
Aquarium manager Keith Chandler said the sea lion is simply resting on the beach, as is the baby seal. "He just picked Cannon Beach to take a nap," he said. Normally, sea lions find hidden rocks or isolated jetties to fall asleep. They can go nighty-night on the water, but it doesn't get them a good sleep. "He’s alert," Chandler said. “Alert enough to nearly take my head off when I started to get close.”
In spite of a possible malnourished condition, Chandler said it appears to be OK. "If he’s still there in a couple days, there may be a problem. But I expect he’ll be gone tomorrow. It just happens that the beaches are their bedrooms." A baby seal is hanging out just a few miles south, at Arcadia Beach State Park. It too is trying to take a long nap, as babies do. This one is just a few days older than the one resting at Cannon Beach during the busy holiday weekend, which still had its umbilical cord. “This baby seal no longer has his umbilical cord,” Boothe said. “The pup seemed active, and again we placed signs around the pup to inform the public to leave the seal pup alone.” Chandler said this one was the cutest one he’d seen in a long time. The Seaside Aquarium got the call about the sea lion around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, and they were on the scene, planting signs an hour later.
Last weekend’s pup brought up some more issues about how the public should leave these little ones alone. Chandler said Cannon Beach crowds were better about staying away because they’re more educated on the subject, thanks to Haystack Awareness program educators. That program teaches people about the marine environment, with interpreters also reinforcing the "do not approach" rule for baby seals. Chandler said tourists on other beaches, like Seaside, are a little more likely to approach a baby seal in spite of the signage, because there are no educators on hand to keep an eye out or push the message. The baby seal this weekend had a kind of fairy tale ending – for seals, at least. "Sure enough, the mother did not approach the baby while the crowds were around," Chandler said. “But we got reports from Haystack Awareness staff that she came in about 4 a.m. and was nursing the seal. They could even see the mother seal in the water, checking in on her baby sometimes during the day. "Once the holiday ended, the two swam off back into the ocean – flipper in flipper. They’re probably doing underwater summersaults now. That illustrated exactly what we preached: stay away and the mother will come and get the baby."
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