Leu the Northern Fur Seal

First for some context. I have been volunteering at the Seattle Aquarium for a little over a year. We recently acquired two young northern fur seals from the New England Aquarium- Leu and Flaherty. Leu is blind in one eye (but that's not really relevant to the rest of the story). Previously on exhibit, we had a much older fur seal named Chewbacca. He was much more sedentary than the two new boys, and spent most of his time hauling out. Leu and Flaherty love to swim and take advantage of the whole exhibit!

On Memorial Day, a small child threw a "lavender lovie" sold at Pike Place Market into his exhibit. This is some sort of therapuetic ball (and only Pike Place would sell something called a "lavender lovie") filled with flax seeds. Leu was seen by guests playing with the ball and staff was notified immediately. As quickly as possible, a dive team was sent into the exhibit, but the ball was gone. Leu swallowed it.

Veterinary staff did some research on the ball that Leu swallowed to find what it was made of and if Leu would be able to pass it without surgery. After Leu was clearly distressed and becoming unresponsive, he underwent a procedure to have the ball removed. Leu is still recovering, but getting better everyday!

I wanted to share this story because I think its a great reminder for people who may be visiting beaches this summer to pick up your trash or any trash you may see on the beach. Marine mammals have to deal with a lot of trash in their environment, but most of them do not have a team of vets ready to take care of them if something goes wrong. Almost all pinnipeds utilize the land at some point, so lets try to keep it trash free! Plus a clean beach is helpful towards a clean ocean!

You can read the full story on the Seattle Aquarium's blog here: http://blog.seattleaquarium.org/conservation/close-call-for-leu-the-fur-seal/