Art and Sea

This morning the Wrangler and I met up with some friends for a workshop hosted at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center here in Laguna Beach. The Center, which operates 24/7, rescues and rehabilitates seals and sea lions that are found injured along the coast. With over 70 sick animals at any given time, the Center relies on four full-time employees, including a veterinarian, and 80 volunteers. Staff feed each animal intravaneously four to five times a day (except for the animals that are healthy enough for competitive feeding). Two people are needed to administer food--one to secure the animal, and another to handle the feeding tube. The Center goes through 400 pounds of fish per day.

During the tour led by one of the Center's board members, we observed the staff preparing to release several sea lions back into the wild and got a behind-the-scenes look at the medical facilities.

After the tour, an artist led a sea lion clay-sculpting and painting exercise. My sea lion looks like one of those super cheesy Hallmark store figurines but not as nice.

I know that observing sea lion rescue operations and then sculpting said sea lions is not exactly an urban cowgirl adventure, but such is life when the "ranch" is in a beach town.