Seal Sitters trained 35 enthusiastic new volunteers, including several minors, on Saturday in a two-part training that lasted a good portion of the day. We’re very proud to have such a dedicated volunteer base and look forward to an exciting and, most likely, very crazed harbor seal pupping season. Today, two of our brand new volunteers looked after seal pup Sunshine, who was grateful to be able to take an undisrupted snooze on a very busy urban beach.

Tags: volunteer training, Sunshine

The May issue of Seattle Magazine has a mention of Seal Sitters in the tongue-in-cheek column Seatlleopia, comparing Seattle to Portland. As far as the frostbitten fingers go, it will indeed be nice to do some seal-sitting duty in warmer weather for a change. Of course, warmer weather means bigger crowds and increases the challenges of pups finding a quiet place to rest. Seal Sitters is gearing up for the impending seal pupping season - there is still space open for our May 19th training if you’d like to help out.

Thanks to Kate and Seattle Magazine!

Tags: training, volunteer training

Seal Sitters will hold our final training of the year on Saturday, May 19th at the Alki Bathhouse (2701 Alki Avenue SW, next to Statue of Liberty on the beach). From 10am-12:00pm, there will be a talk and A/V presentation. After a 30 minute break, there will be a followup on-the-beach training session lasting approximately an hour. Due to the demands of volunteer time protecting animals during pupping season, there will be no further trainings this year.

Pupping season in South Puget Sound begins in mid-June in area rookeries, where pups are born and nursed for 4-6 weeks. We don’t usually begin seeing pups on West Seattle beaches until early July with the peak of our season in September and October. All of the pups we have been seeing the past few months are weaned pups from last season. Please mark your calendar for the training event and RSVP if you would like to attend.

Pupping season has begun on the outer coast of Oregon and Washington. If you visit coastal areas, you may encounter a pup alone on the beach. Please observe from a distance and keep people and dogs away. This is a very dangerous time of year for newborn pups - if people or dogs cause disruption in a rookery or around a pup alone on the beach, a mother may abandon her young. If you have concerns about the health or safety of a pup, please call the stranding network for that area. Never remove a pup from the beach - it is against Federal Law (the Marine Mammal Protection Act). If you don’t have access to the internet from your phone, you can always call the Seal Sitters hotline at 206-905-SEAL (7325) for the appropriate contact information of the proper stranding response team.

We look forward to seeing you on the 19th- please RSVP here. We encourage children (such as Noemi and Etienne above) to join Seal Sitters - it is a very empowering experience for a child to be able to protect marine mammals and learn about our fragile marine ecosystem.

Tags: training, volunteer training

Seal Sitters will hold our last training of the year on Saturday, May 19th from 10am-12:30ish. The location of the event will be announced at a later date. Pupping season in South Puget Sound begins in mid-June in area rookeries, where pups are born and nursed for 4-6 weeks. We don’t usually begin seeing pups on West Seattle beaches until early July with the peak of our season in September and October. All of the pups we have been seeing the past few months are weaned pups from last season. Please mark your calendar and check back for updates. RSVP if you would like to attend the training.

Pupping season has begun on the outer coast of Washington. If you visit coastal areas, you may encounter a pup alone on the beach. Please observe from a distance and keep people and dogs away. If you have concerns about the health or safety of the pup, please call the stranding network for that area. If you don’t have access to the internet from your phone, you can always call the Seal Sitters hotline at 206-905-SEAL (7325) for the appropriate number.

Tags: training, volunteer training

Thanks to everyone who came to Seal Sitters’ training last night - over 70 people attended. Thanks, also, to the Admiral Branch Library for providing such a great meeting space and to the staff for being so understanding as we ran a bit late. We have a fantastic group of dedicated volunteers and are excited to have even more join us in our quest to help protect “Spud” and his buds.

Tags: training, volunteer training

Dates have been set for two training events:

SESSION ONE:
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm at the Seattle Aquarium (1483 Alaskan Way).
This will be an open region-wide training by Kristin Wilkinson, NOAA stranding expert, in hopes of expanding a volunteer base trained to respond to marine mammals on the beach from South Puget Sound to Snohomish County. If you are interested in responding to marine mammals in areas outside of West Seattle, we suggest you attend this session. Learn about marine mammals in your area and how to report and respond to marine mammal strandings. Seal Sitters will be represented at the event and all are welcome to attend. Questions about this training? Please contact Kristin.

SESSION TWO:
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010, from 6 - 7:30 pm at the West Seattle Admiral branch of the Seattle Library (2306 42nd Ave SW, West Seattle).
This session will be a special training for those wanting to volunteer for Seal Sitters in West Seattle. A multi-media presentation with photos by first responder Robin Lindsey will illustrate our educational work in the community and the particular challenges of protecting seals and seal pups in an urban environment. Zoologist and education and science advisor Buzz Shaw will discuss biology and behavior of seals and other marine mammals of Puget Sound. Learn how to report and respond to strandings. Seating limited to 70 with some standing capacity. Contact us if you have any questions and keep an eye on the blog for updates regarding participants. RSVP here for the West Seattle session.

Tags: volunteer training, training