So, Wednesday I showed up and was introduced to the crew. Doug, Scott, Jeff, and another volunteer who's name I can't remember (I've me SO many people in the last week!) who made me instantly feel like part of the team and did a great job of training me. First was "board school" where I was taught to use boards that are available at each pen for protection and to herd the elephant seal pups so that procedures like tube feeding can be done. After an animal is in position, the "boarder's" job is to keep the people restraining, feeding, or cleaning safe from the rest of the animals in the pen. So, that was my job in the morning -learning to keep myself and others safe! And it's not easy, the ones that are feeling good challenge you, push on the board, bite at it, and try to get around it to get at you, so you have to stay on top of things, especially when two come at you or you have one and another in the pool that you have to watch!
(Example photo from a release, this is not my photo.)
Next was lunch. On Monday and Tuesday lunch wasn't much fun, but Wednesday our team all ate together on these picnic tables overlooking the beach and it was as much fun as it was beautiful! I really, really, love my Wednesday crew!
(Example photo, I did not take this.)
After lunch Scott grabbed a big, stuffed seal to be a model as he showed me how to restrain an elephant seal pup. You have to sneak up on them and when they raise their head to threaten you, you wrap a towel around it's head to cover its eyes and then quickly put your hands on the back of the head to force it down to the ground (with the towel under it for protection) while you put a knee on either side of their body so you end up looking like you are sitting on them (although no weight is applied). You tuck their front flippers behind your calves and then just try to keep them there. I practiced a couple times on the stuffed seal, then Scott and Doug picked out a more lethargic elephant seal pup for me to restrain for tube feeding. I did a pretty good job on that one, so I was given a second slightly more energetic one to restrain and I did pretty well on that one too. I left for the day with a promise of more challenging ones next week.
(Example photo, I did not take this.)
On Thursday, because I had some experience restraining elephant seal pups, I got to go out with the vet interns to restrain the elephant seal pups for their admit exams (their length is measured, blood is drawn, they are examined physically, and then tagged). This time no regard was given for my newbie status and I had to restrain some pretty feisty pups! It was hard work, and my arms and groin muscles are sore as a result!
On Friday there were no vet techs on duty and one of the vet interns had left, which left me, an RVT volunteer, Dr VanBonn, and another vet to do everything. We started with exams of sea lions which are much harder to board, capture, and restrain because they are more mobile than the elephant seals, so I just assisted and recorded for the vets. Afterwards I helped anesthetize and monitor a female Adult California sea lion who had a spontaneous abortion on a beach then reportedly wasn't using her hind flippers. Her exam went well, she was using her hind flipper normally before she was sedated and she'll be released soon. Next we anesthetized a male elephant seal pup for radiographs in the x-ray room. He had trauma to his rear flipper. He was bitten by something and bones were exposed on both sides as well as a bone that was only hanging on by the skin. Surgery for amputation of exposed bones is scheduled for Monday but the bones are like the ones in your fingertips, so he should be releasable after he recovers.
(Example photo, I did not take this.)
Next we took the portable x-ray machine to radiograph the head of a juvenile male California sea lion who was a re-admit. He had previously been shot, rehabilitated, then released. A few weeks later he was found on the beach bleeding from his eye. We wanted to see if he had been shot again, but he's so full of shotgun pellets (and a .22 bullet lodged near his mandible) we can't be sure if that's the case until someone does a really close comparison of today's rads and the original ones from his first admit. Poor thing. After lunch and rounds we anesthetized a juvenile male California sea lion who came in with a massive hematoma on his right shoulder. They took liters of fluid out of it about a week ago and put a drain in. We removed the drain, flushed the wound, and ultrasounded the area. It looks like it's healing well although some of the skin is necrotic and will end up sloughing off causing a large wound, but his prognosis is good as well.
(Example photo, I did not take this, but see that traffic cone?
It is used as a loose mask for the first stage of masking the animal down
before we switch to a tighter fitting mask.)
So, it was a full week and I'm happy to say that the getting to know you phase is mostly over. Hopefully over the next 7 weeks I'll get more hands-on experience doing injections, blood draws, etc but I learned a lot this week and was able to monitor anesthesia and chart it as well. At the start I didn't even know the difference between a sea lion and a seal, so learning the anatomy, behavior, restraint, and just being safe around wild animals was important too before I just jump in there and treat them like a dog or cat.
