Northern elephant seals are a rare sight in the Puget Sound, so when Eloise was born here this past March, she was a welcome addition to the Whidbey Island shoreline. Eloise is the third offspring of her mother Ellie, who was first sighted on Whidbey in 2010. Eloise's older brother Ellison was born in 2015, and her sister Ellie Mae was born in 2018.
An elephant seal generally nurses her pup for just four weeks, then leaves the pup on their own to learn to swim and forage for food. So by the end of April, Eloise was fully weaned from her mom and living independently.
It is strongly suspected that the deep wounds on Eloise’s flippers were the result of a coyote attack.
One late April evening, an island neighbor heard peculiar cries in her yard and discovered a badly injured Eloise on her deck. It is strongly suspected that Eloise had been attacked by a coyote while she was resting on the beach. Attacks like these are being observed in California as well, and it's not clear yet what is behind them - whether coyote populations have increased, human activity is affecting their distribution, or if their food sources are running low. Whatever the cause, Eloise suffered deep wounds, left with pieces of her back flipper dangling and open fractures.
A huge thank you to the Whidbey Island community for their concern and care for Eloise!
Thankfully Eloise had chosen a safe refuge, as the Whidbey homeowners and neighbors were familiar with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and knew how to respond to marine wildlife in distress. They called the PNW Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline (1-866-767-6114), then monitored Eloise until SR3 and network partners arrived to provide emergency medical care.
Eloise’s wounds were cleaned and treated with topical antibiotics; she was also given subcutaneous fluids and long-lasting, injectable antibiotics. While ideally Eloise would have been hospitalized until she fully healed, unfortunately SR3's marine wildlife hospital will not be ready to receive patients until later this summer. Instead, the decision was made to relocate Eloise to a safer location and hope she would be able to heal on her own.
Eloise the elephant seal pup, recovering after receiving emergency medical care.
SR3 continues to help monitor her condition, and she is healing well and engaging in normal seal pup behaviors. We are hopeful that this spunky pup will make a full recovery and live a long, wild life.
Eloise’s rescue was possible thanks in part to caring neighbors and SR3’s stranding network partners at NOAA and the Orca Network.
You can download the Dolphin & Whale 911 app so you always have emergency numbers with you!
If you find a seal or sea lion in distress, remember:
Give these animals at least 100 yards of space (the length of a football field)
Call for help: 1-866-767-6114
Keep pets leashed
Limit noise and move farther away if the animal starts to stare, fidget, or flee
SR3 is grateful for our generous community of donors who make rescues like this possible. Together we are building the Pacific Northwest’s only specialized marine wildlife hospital to help more animals like Eloise! Click here to learn more.