Thursday, September 10, 2009

The workout and then freedom

Today we weighed all of the seals in Pool 4, which is the pool we put all seals in last (they graduate up to this level) and so here is where they gain all the rest of their weight before they are released. We try and release seals when they are at least 60 lbs, so most of these are between 50 and 70 lbs. Now, I have to get all geared up in fisherman pants, a rain coat and wellies. To weight these buggers we have three people weighing and one writing down the weights. They drain the tank, and so one person (me in this case) gets down there and wrangles a seal into a net, and then lift the seal up to the other two people (with their help). They then attach the net to hooks on a dangling scale and take the measurement. The seal is then let back down into the empty pool and the whole process starts again (until they're all weighed). :) So, you can imagine, lifting 50-70 lbs about 10 times up and down is a pretty good work out. :P I enjoyed it though. They are so damn cute I can't stand it! They of course are not supposed to be friendly and like people (that's the hope) but they are anyway. There is one seal in pool 4 that is really bad (friendly) named Vivian. Every time I scoop for extra fish in their pool with the net she always chases it and bites it or sits in it (which at first is cute, but quickly becomes aggravating), and when I was cleaning the deck this morning she came up and sat next to me the whole time. And of course, when I move she follows. When I was in the pool clearing the fish from the drain so it could continue to drain the pool, while the other seals tried to see what I was doing and occasionally sitting on the pool and biting my pants, she was constantly getting in my face (luckily she's friendly and doesn't bite) and I guess thinking she was "helping" but wasn't. She's so cute, she's got a little green spot (they all have colors on their heads to distinguish who's who), but she really shouldn't be so nice, that's not good criteria for releasing.
Anyway, after weighing we found that 4 were well over 60 lbs, so they will be released on Sunday!! It was going to be Saturday, which would have been great cause then David could have gone too, but for one reason or another they had to change it. That brings me to my next point, DAVID'S COMING IN THE MORNING!! We are both a bit worried about him being able to catch his ferry (he's taking one ferry from Anacortes to Sidney, then has to catch a bus from Sidney 5 km to Swartz Bay Ferry). Technically he should have enough time, but that depends if his ferry is on time and if he can walk to the bus stop in good time, and then if the bus is on time! I am hoping all goes well, cause if he can't catch the 11:00 ferry, the next one isn't until 1:00, which would suck (for him cause he's got to wait, and for both of us cause I only have 2 days off... precious time!). Anyway, we should have a good time, I have a kayak trip planned and have been trying to get a hold of the people that give horse rides up Mt. Maxwell, but every time I've called so far I've gotten an answering machine (and as I don't really have a good # to give them I have to just keep calling).
On one more note, we had 6 seals in quarantine (so the smallest ones) and we moved all but 2 out into pool 1 today!! I even got to learn how to pick one up and I carried him (Princeton... we call him Prince) to his new home. He's one of my favorites, he makes the cutest noises (which sound like he's blowing bubbles) and he's nice. I tube fed three seals again today with Marielle (the vet) overseeing (I needed a few more times being watched before she would let me do it on my own), and I felt really good cause she had nothing to say, all she said was "C'est parfait" (she's French), which means, perfect. :P I felt really good! :) She told me that she's almost never seen anyone learn tubing as fast as I have. :) Well, that's about all for now, can't wait to see David!!

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