California Dreamin': The Marin Headlands (Part 2)

Before I get to my pictures, I want to show exactly where it was I was going yesterday. Point "A" in both photos is the Marine Mammal Center.

Obviously, Highway 101 is the Golden Gate Bridge.

Yesterday I went to the center, to the beach at Rodeo Cove,
and to a trail overlooking Bonita Cove.

The Marine Mammal Center is a fabulous organization that started about thirty years ago, with the intent of rescuing and rehabilitating marine mammals of the California coast and getting them ready to be re-released to their natural habitat.

Our mission is to expand knowledge about marine mammals—their health and that of their ocean environment—and to inspire their global conservation. Our core work is the rescue and rehabilitation of sick and injured marine mammals, supported by state-of-the-art animal care and research facilities, a corps of dedicated volunteers, and an engaged community. (What We Do)

Don't think marine mammals are cute? Check out this video of sea lion pups the center is currently caring for!

The center (I'm just going to add here that I've just taken a twenty- or thirty-minute break from typing this just to watch YouTube videos of the Center releasing animals back into the wild, and now my eyes are a little wet) serves many functions--not only do they rescue sea mammals in distress and rehabilitate them, they also work very hard to educate the public on topics like keeping the oceans clean, how to interact with sea mammals (that is, don't!) and the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. The goal is always to release an animal back to the wild when it is rehabilitated. Animals that cannot go back to the ocean, like Silent Knight, blinded after a gunshot wound--yes, a gunshot wound, sometimes I hate people--to his head, are found the best possible homes in zoos or aquariums.

I could go on for ages about what they do and how marvelous I think this place is, but I'll just stop yapping and get to the pictures.

Swimmy is all for protecting other swimming creatures.

This happened while I was living in Antioch--I remember it well!

The Herring-O-Matic...I love it!

I'm pretty sure this is "the" Betty White.

Jawbone of a juvenile humpback whale.

Elephant seal pups--many were separated from their mothers during storms
and came to the Center suffering from malnourishment.

The facility, you can see, is beautiful and only a couple of years old. Apparently it's quite an upgrade from what they had previously--a docent told me that the solar panels power 25% of their energy needs, as well as providing some shade for the animals on warmer days. Everything is clean and well-taken care of. The animals are top priority, and human-animal interaction is kept to a minimum to avoid imprinting.

I could go on and on about how wonderful this Center is, but I'll just encourage you to have a look at the website and see for yourself. Watch a few of their YouTube videos--I dare you not to tear up! I've always thought that sea mammals are glorious creatures and it's wonderful to know that there is an organization dedicated to seeing them not only survive, but thrive.

Next blog: The beach at Rodeo Cove.