Mojo, out to sea!
Posted June 19, 2012 at 4:04 am by Rebecca Leff
Steller’s Sea Lion Mojo, who was rescued by Wolf Hollow and rehabilitated for three and a half months, is being released. 170lbs heavier, much healthier, and ready to provide for himself, he ventures out to the Salish Sea! Here’s more from Wolf Hollow Education Coordinator, Shona Aitken:
Before and after…Left picture taken in February by Ross Lockwood, right picture taken May 22nd by Shona Aitken
Mojo, the young Steller’s Sea Lion that had been in care at Wolf Hollow for 3 ½ months, has been released back into the wild.
Mojo was found alone, thin and weak near Moclips on the outer coast of the Olympic peninsula in mid February and transported to Wolf Hollow by Dyanna Lambourn, a marine mammal biologist with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). He was estimated to be about six months old, should still have been with his mother and was emaciated, dehydrated and very weak.
After a couple of weeks of intensive care, Mojo had gained enough strength to be moved out into an enclosure with a pool, where he enjoyed swimming, lying in the sun and eating lots of fish. When Mojo arrived he weighed only ~ 80 pounds, but was soon eating more than 15 pounds of high quality herring each day, and by late May weighed over 250 pounds. By this time, he had proved that he could chase and catch live fish, was big, fat and healthy, and ready to be released.
Dr Joe Gaydos with the SeaDoc Society and Dyanna Lambourn with WDFW examined Mojo and attached a satellite transmitter to the short fur on the back of Mojo’s head so his movements could be tracked over the next few weeks. He was then transported back down to the outer coast and released.
If you would like to follow Mojo’s travels, read here.
Mojo Fish Fund
During his care at Wolf Hollow Mojo ate a lot of the fish we had stored ready for the Harbor Seal pups we will care for this summer, so now we need to buy more. This will be expensive, so we would really welcome your donation to the Mojo Fish Fund! Thank you!
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