The Venice Paparazzi Team met the fine folks at Marine Mammal Care Los Angeles in April as we were helping Christian and Justin from Nalu Vida bring what is now known as Second Saturdays to life. At the time there was an algae outbreak that was killing dolphins and sea lions, so Venice Paparazzi partnered with Nalu Vida to do a fund raiser for Marine Mammal Care.
Watch Gertrude eat a fish here!
They are really nice people who do great work and we are stoked to know them. As a thank you for helping with the fundraiser, they asked us to name an animal. We chose the name Gertrude in honor of our pitfall that died unexpectedly at six years of age.
About Gertrude:
Gertrude is a subadult female California sea lion who was spotted on the Redondo Beach marine mammal barge with a fishing net wrapped tightly around her face and neck. The Center’s marine mammal responders worked with the Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol to rescue her, approaching the barge by boat and using a deep net with a pole extension for extra reach. Once at our hospital, the netting was removed, and X-rays revealed some damage to her jaw. Our animal care experts are watching Gertrude closely to ensure she will be able to successfully catch and eat fish on her own as she begins recovery.
Update:
I wanted to let you know Gertrude continues to do well in care, and our veterinary team is planning to do her release exam next week. If everything goes well, she will be ready to be released shortly after that. Her release location will most likely be Cabrillo Beach, the closest beach to us.
Update 8/28: Gertrude has been eating well on her own. During a recheck exam last week, our veterinarian noted that her wounds were showing excellent healing progress. Our animal care experts have noted that Gertrude has had an intermittent cough and nasal discharge, so she is currently receiving antibiotics to treat infection.
Thank you for helping give animals like Gertrude a second chance at life.
About Marine Mammal Care Los Angeles:
The Center rehabilitates sick and injured marine mammals at our hospital until they can be released back to the wild. Annually, the Center cares for 250 to 500 sea lions, elephant seals, fur seals, and harbor seals. Since 1992, we’ve cared for more than 10,000 marine mammals.
MMCC rescues and responds to marine mammals along the entire coast of Los Angeles County, including Catalina Island, and recent trends indicate that strandings will continue to increase, with cyclical spikes occurring more frequently. Causes of strandings include malnutrition, infectious diseases, entanglements, and toxicity from harmful algal blooms, among other threats. On average, our experts respond to 750 to 1,000 reports of marine mammals in distress each year.
MMCC’s education programs provide learning opportunities for K-12 students, community organizations, conservation partners, and the public. Our programs are designed to be inquiry-driven and learner-centric, emphasizing the important role that we all play in environmental stewardship. We create experiences that motivate, inspire and equip people to take concrete actions to protect the ocean and marine mammals.
Our veterinary team contributes to important scientific research to advance marine animal rehabilitation and broader conversation efforts.
We partner with scientists around the country to collaborate on environmental investigations and findings.
