with and without foam

I did not want to go to Guadalupe on Friday. Guadalupe is the farthest south we ever go for a rescue. Technically it's not even in our county. There's a great steak place there which took me ten years to try simply because it's so very far away. Anyway, I was sure that no self respecting sick sea lion would wait on the beach nearly two hours for my crew to arrive. I figured we'd drive all that way and return empty handed. I was totally wrong. We found her there, all well behaved, sitting in the sloping tideline of the unspoiled beach. She didn't even take off when some spectators (who'd just given us a $20 donation) got too near. She didn't bite at us in the net or try to escape when the waves rushed in. She was the picture of cooperation. Off shore a thick line of birds flew south endlessly. It was simply breathtaking. Everything went so well we named her Smooth.

Smooth never did seize for us, but it seemed she really wanted to. She had all the usual markers - the brown slobber, bobbing head, seizy eyes. But she was nicely hydrated and it was late, so we left her alone for the evening. Sounds like she was a bit of a butt to box up the next morning but other than that the day was quiet.

Sunday I got a little more action. I was able to pass Modred's rescue off on my south county crew (she was on the drive on beach), so I didn't have to get another pair of sneakers wet. She was just about the strangest sea lion I've seen. Instead of brown slobber, she had white foam. And tons of it. She was head bobbing constantly - literally for hours. Though she wouldn't seize for me, she wouldn't settle either. I made a case for some lorazepam and left her for the evening.

Apparently Modred had no problem seizing this morning. She was unresponsive to touch and totally flat. Not surprisingly, she died on transport this afternoon. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one. Monday's crew had four more animals, one of which died during rescue. And to think I was whining about how far I had to drive. At least I didn't have to watch anyone die.