Losing a friend

Laguna Beach’s favorite sea lion will soon bid farewell — and he’s going first-class.

Nick, a 10-month-old sea lion rescued by the Pacific Marine Mammal Center last June, is moving to the Denver Zoo March 31.

The pup was found June 17 on Seal Rock in North Laguna. He’d been abandoned on the beach at birth, his umbilical cord still attached.

Caretakers speculate he was a day or two old at the time he was found.

Michele Hunter, director of operations and animal care at the center, who has been Nick’s surrogate “mom” since his arrival nearly a year ago, is saddened to see him leave.

“It’s been a great experience, and I will miss him very much,” she said, “but I think he will do well in his new environment.”

Nick, who once feared even the shallowest of pools and slept in a child’s pack-n-play crib, now frolics in three feet of water and independently roams his own pool deck.

Hunter said Nick was at a healthy weight of 18 pounds upon his arrival, and had no illnesses or health problems. He happily took to bottle-feeding after five days of tube-feeding (in which a fish smoothie is fed to the pup via a tube that is inserted through the throat and directly into the stomach).

However, he allowed only Hunter to feed him. During the wildfires, when the mammals were transported to another facility temporarily and she was unable to feed him herself, Hunter had to donate her shirt so Nick would seek comfort in her scent and accept a bottle from a different caretaker.

“It was a good shirt, too,” she said, laughing.

This further illustrates how much Hunter cares for her foster pup.

Nick also hollers — the same way a pup would call for its mom in the wild — whenever Hunter is in sight. After she has spent time with him, he doesn’t want her to leave.

“Sometimes he’ll even put his flippers on my feet to block me from moving,” she said.

At 6 months old — about the same amount of time it typically takes a pup to stop feeding from its mother — Nick graduated from formula to herring and other fishy delights, and packed on a healthy 77 more pounds. He began foraging for his own food, but unlike sea lions in the wild, he would often deliver his catch to the feet of his caretakers as a token of his affection.

This is just one of the reasons Nick was deemed by National Marine Fishery Services non-releasable to his natural habitat.

Hunter said marine animals that have been hand-reared from infancy as Nick was often become too domesticated and are unable to survive in the wild, and must therefore be donated to other care facilities.

The Denver Zoo had two openings, so that’s how Nick came to find his new home.

A chartered plane has been donated for the center’s use, so that Nick, accompanied by Hunter and one other caretaker, can fly safely and quickly to Denver.

“This will eliminate what would have otherwise been 14 hours of travel, and will be much less stressful for Nick,” Hunter said.

Hunter will then remain in Denver for a few days, to help Nick adapt to his new surroundings.

He will live with four female sea lions, which Hunter joked should help with his transition.

Melissa Sciacca, director of development and marketing, will also have a hard time with Nick’s departure.

“He’s such a sweet personality around here,” she said. “He will be missed by everyone.”

The mammal center is a Laguna Beach nonprofit established in 1971 whose mission is to rescue, medically treat, and rehabilitate stranded marine mammals, prior to releasing them back into their natural habitat. The center also aims to raise awareness and educate the public about the marine environment.

The center has 23 animals in custody — nine elephant seals and 14 California sea lions — which is below average for the 60 patients it usually houses at one time.

There are seven staffers — four full-time and three part-time — as well as 75 educational and animal-care volunteers.

For information about volunteering and donations, call (949) 494-3050 or visit www.pacificmmc.org.

GRANT

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center rocked the vote in Simple Green’s 2008 “Adopt a Clean Up” contest and will receive a $5,000 grant for environmental efforts.

Employees will be presented with the award at the Laguna Beach facility at a ceremony at 10 a.m. April 4.

This year, the public was asked to help choose which group would be awarded Simple Green’s environmental grant by voting from a list of organizations.

The Marine Mammal Center pulled in a whopping 73% of the vote over three competing nominees.

The center will use the funds to finance two public awareness outreach events, which will take place in Orange County over Earth Day weekend, to educate the public about the effects of pollution on the marine environment.

Melissa Sciacca, director of development at the center, said the staff is thrilled about the win.

“We feel so honored to have even been nominated,” she said. “The overwhelming support we have received shows what a worthy cause we are supporting.”

Remaining funds will go toward the “Pinniped Pollution” project, a program that teaches children about how simple trash clean-up can positively change the condition of the ocean and its inhabitants.

Simple Green produces environmentally-safe cleaning products, and has supported several community outreach programs over the years to promote environmental responsibility.