Seal Pup Shower Saturday April 16, 2016

We’re expecting here at the National Marine Life Center- the harbor seal pups are on their way! Late April-June is harbor seal pupping season in New England and one of the busiest times for our rehabilitation staff. Each year many pups are abandoned by their mothers, often due to human interaction and will not survive on their own without rehabilitation.

For pups stranding in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts NMLC is the closest option for rehabilitation! Once admitted these pups need to be tube fed a formula until they can be weaned onto whole fish, a difficult process without a mother seal to teach them how. NMLC staff and volunteers will be providing almost round the clock care to these dependent animals with 5 feedings a day starting at 6am and ending at 11pm. These animals will require a lot energy and resources and we need you to help us gear up and get ready!

We will be hosting our second annual Seal Pup Shower open house and you are cordially invited to attend. Come celebrate with us, help us prepare the”nursery”, and kick off our April vacation activities. The shower will be held on Saturday April 16, 2016 from 10am-2pm in our Marine Animal Discovery Center located at 120 Main St, Buzzards Bay, MA. The event entrance fee will be waived if you bring a “baby” gift for our pups from the wishlist below. Activities will include our unique twist of some classic baby shower games, educational programs including Little Flippers Club and Marine Animal Medical Mystery, as well as hospital tours and patients updates to meet our current patients (the ability to view a particular patient will be dependent on the animal’s condition, and animal care staff discretion).

So what do you get a baby seal? Here is a wishlist of items we will need to help these seal pups get healthy and strong, eating fish on their own, and back to the wild!

SEAL PUP WISHLIST

Health and Medical Equipment- These items will allow us to administer medications, keep animals at the proper temperature, and return the animals to good health:

Exam Gloves

60cc Syringes

CG8+ iStat Cartridges

Unflavored Pedialyte

Bath Towels (Clean used ones are great!)

Formula Supplies-These supplies will allow us to provide the proper nourishment to the pups by way of formula or gruel tube fed to them until they start eating fish on their own:

Feeding Syringes

Feeding Tubes (Large)

Glucose Tabs

Salt Tablets

Lactaid Pills

Plastic Pitchers

Personal Protective Equipment- These items will help protect our staff and volunteers from bites and scratches:

Armguards

Restraint Gloves

Cleaning Supplies- These items will help keep our hospital clean and sanitary to stop the spread of disease, and follow quarantine protocols within the hospital:

Disinfectant Foot Mats

Simple Green Degreaser

Virkon Disinfectant

Nolvalsan Disinfectant

Spray Bottles

Buckets

Laundry Detergent

Bleach

Paper Towels

Dish Washing Sponges

Please consider picking up a “baby gift” for our new arrivals , your tax deductible donation is greatly appreciated! If you would prefer to make a monetary donation to support the purchase of food, medicine, staff support, and/or electrical costs please click here to be directed to our donations page! we hope to see you on April 16th!