Hooked on a Feeling.....

The pup was swimming beyond the seal zone, beyond the outer reef and Karen Bryan noticed Mom had a squid in her mouth and pup was pulling at it. Perhaps a foraging lesson.

Mom and pup went closer to the island and to where the fisherman was. Robert went to check and seemed ok out there and he spoke to the fisherman. Karen said she would go to the park side to check and so I went with her too to feed my anxious mind. We were all concerned. As we ran towards the area Mom and Pup were...Robert calls me on our walkie talkie that indeed the pup had a hook in its mouth. We futher checked things out and made a decision to call David right away.
It was a sickening site to us all. The time it took for David to come and assess the situation was agonizing. Schofield called Dr. Bob, Tracy Wurth, Brenda Becker out. As soon as Dr. Bob arrived he also said the hook needs to come out. Dr. Bob and David waited for the seals to come on over to the sandy shore, waited till the pup fed........... (and the experts did their magic) Dr. Bob pulled the hook out...this all happening in one minute!!!!!! But it seemed so much longer watching it all. Brenda timed it to the start of dehooking and it was one inute...incredible.

Thats not all a second seal showed up and that one turned out to be....Rosie...030-031. A pup we encounted at Pokai Bay area on Mothers Day, May 11, 2008. So...we met this female seal Mothers Day and now for the second time on Fathers Day. What an amazing coincidence. It was an emotional day but a good ending. The photo you printed was taken by Robert just before the dehooking to show just how the hook was in its mouth, and the line entangled in its body. And the bait still on the set up. Poor baby. And Mom checked the pup out really good and they landed right where pup got hooked up and basked in the sun. End of story. Sorry took so long...we were so busy. Barbara

photo by Scott Allen (resident Northshore)