After 4 months of care at Wolf Hollow, four young otters were released on the shores of a sheltered bay. They ran along the shore, investigated the rocks and seaweed, explored the driftwood and splashed in and out of the water.

When they arrived at Wolf Hollow in June and early July the kits were about 3 months old and had been orphaned or become separated from their mothers. Each was found alone in a different place, but they quickly became inseparable and swam together, fell asleep on top of each other and learned how to catch live fish and crabs.  By fall they were well grown and ready to tackle life in the wild.

On Tuesday August 28, we released our first three seals of the season–Muenster, Danbo, and Brie. After our seal pups reach a healthy weight, we are able to let them back into the ocean to experience life back in the wild Pacific.

Muenster was found alone in bustling Roche Harbor and hauled out on July 21, on some paddleboards. He was slightly dehydrated, weighed just over 22 lbs. When he was released he weighed 40.3 lbs.

Danbo was seen alone on shore at Semiahmoo Resort for two days. After being picked up by the Whatcom County Marine Mammal Stranding Network on July 6, he received overnight care at Whatcom Wildlife Center before being flown to Wolf Hollow. He was very thin and dehydrated, weighted 16.4 lbs, had an umbilical infection and puncture wounds on his flippers. When he was released he weighed almost 47 lbs.

Brie was our first seal pup received this season, picked up by a kayaker somewhere on Orcas island on June 27, and kept with a friend overnight. When we got her on June 28, she was alert and active, only slightly dehydrated, and weighed 22.2 lbs. By the time we released her, Brie weighed nearly 60 lbs.

Watch this video to see how it all happened down at Kansas Cove.

And remember … if you see a Harbor Seal on the beach, leave it alone and call the Marine Mammal Stranding Network (1-866-767-6114)!

Brie

Muenster

Danbo

Wolf Hollow’s education team “flew” over to the mainland to participate in the Anacortes Children’s Festival. To honor the Year of the Bird, kids  colored hummingbird flyers, tested their knowledge with our build-a-bird game, and practiced their bird watching skills with our  scavenger hunt. Thanks to a grant from the Skagit Community Foundation, we were able to provide all kinds of great activities so kids and parents alike could have fun, learn about Wolf Hollow and notice all our native birds!

This 4th of July, some of our animals went for a rockin’ ride in intern Erin’s truck as part of our Wolf Hollow float. The parade theme of “music through the decades” inspired us to equip the animals with guitars, trumpets, drums, and the like, to bring Friday Harbor a debut rendition of Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”. With the help of interns Sophia and Hannah, and volunteer Anna, the float was a fine-tuned success! 

At the end of May this female Elephant Seal pup was brought to Wolf Hollow for care. She was found stranded on shore near an RV park in Ocean Shores, WA.

When she arrived she was extremely emaciated, weighing only 35 kg, and was very weak, so she needed intensive care. We provided the necessary medications and treatments and tube-fed her fluids initially before gradually introducing a special high-calorie fish slurry formula.

Since then she has made slow, steady progress and has received excellent care from our rehab staff and team of marine mammal vets (Dr. Jenny Ladd and Dr. Joe Gaydos of SeaDoc Society). After two weeks of care, she was stronger and more active, eating whole fish and spending time swimming in her pool.

On June 9th she was transported to The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, CA. There, she’ll be with other Elephant Seal pups to receive long-term care until she’s ready for release back to the wild.

Ren DiBona is an accomplished young artist who lives on Lopez. She has always loved animals, so decided to create a piece of art that could be made into cards and prints and sold to raise funds to support Wolf Hollow’s work.   She created this beautiful image of a young Red Fox and more than tripled her original goal of selling 30 cards, raising $500 for Wolf Hollow.  Thank you so much Ren!

Local students Lucas Chevalier and Marshall Clark were concerned about the number of collisions between vehicles and deer on San Juan Island so they decided to take action.  After carrying out interviews and doing research they decided to purchase deer whistles and sell them in the local community. These devices can be attached to cars and emit a sound when it is moving so deer have warning when a vehicle is approaching.  They originally intended to sell 100 whistles, but there was so much demand that they actually sold twice as many and donated $400 to Wolf Hollow. Thank You Lucas and Marshall for your great idea!