Seal Day, which happened on May 18th, was a big hit with my eight-year old daughter Judy. The Marine Mammal Care Center who hosted the event specializes in rescuing sick and injured seals and returning them to the wild. The center had 75 seals they were caring for that day and one arrived while we were there to Judy’s delight.
Jill Romano, the center’s Director of Business and Development, was delighted too with the amount they took in fundraising for the day. “It was our most successful year yet!” she said. According to Romano they raised $6,500 along with an additional $1,500 worth of “in-kind” donations.
“We also had 26 organizations represented, which is a pretty good size,” she added. Some of those organizations were the Coast Guard, the Cabrillo Aquarium, Aquarium of the Pacific and several nature centers who brought along a variety of animals for inspection.
The IBRRC, International Bird Rescue and Research Center, was also present. They’re actually located right next door to the Marine Mammal Care Center but have never been open on our previous visits so we were excited to see that not only did they have a representative there to answer questions but were also open to visitors.
They don’t allow anyone to look in on the recuperating birds but have cameras along with monitors in the lobby so as to view them. We wondered why we couldn’t go see them as you can next door with the seals at the Marine Mammal Care Center so I did the inevitable and asked. They explained that as our eyes are on the front of our faces just like predators, the birds get stressed as they feel they are being eyed as prey. It’s amazing the things you can learn with a simple question.
We spent a lot of time speaking with these organizations that came to set up shop at the event. One of them made a definite impact on Judy and that was the group trying to get the Canadian government to ban the killing of baby harp seals for their fur. We both signed their petition they were planning to submit. Later on Judy asked me if she was suppose to go to Canada to help protest because she signed their paper. She seemed disappointed when I told her that she didn’t need to, as her signature was enough.
Other than the organizations we spoke to, there were art projects to do such as sand candle making, painting a picture plus face painting. Judy chose to have a seal painted on her arm. This gave the children something to take home to remember the day. But the best part was the raffle.
They had some wonderful prizes! There were red ticket items such as round trip airline tickets, a weekend at the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club in Redondo Beach or an Origins gift basket. Those tickets went for $5 dollars a piece or 6 for $25 dollars.
Then there were blue ticket items such as brunch for two on the Queen Mary and a myriad of gift baskets for children. The price was $10 dollars for 15 or $1 dollar a ticket. I was really hoping to win the brunch on the Queen Mary but Judy won a great tote of sea animals that also included a $20 dollar gift certificate to a hobby shop and fish related art supplies. She had a great day!
Ms. Romano tells me they will have another fund raising event in the fall called the Marine Mammal Scare Center for Halloween. You can bet Judy and I will be there. Hopefully you’ll come and join us too as it’s for a good cause!
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