A young seal was taken to the Marine Mammal Center near Sausalito on Sunday after being rescued from a Redwood City parking garage, the Redwood City Fire Department said.
The five-month-old northern fur seal, now named "Santos," was seen Sunday morning in the Marshall Street parking garage. The garage is about a block and a half from Redwood Creek, one way the young pinniped may have accessed the garage. The fire department was called.
"Five-month-old Santos made it back to the fire station, where he posed for pictures and took a nap," the department said Sunday on its Instagram account.
A Marine Mammal Center crew picked up the young seal in Redwood City and brought him back to the Sausalito facility, where he was treated and monitored.
Veterinarians at the Center noted Santos was responsive, but not overly active. He is currently being fed via a tube and they hope to increase its weight and implement rehabilitation throughout his treatment.
“Unlike a California sea lion that seeks out food sources closer to shore, this young fur seal pup should be foraging well off the continental shelf in the open ocean,” says Dr. Cara Field, staff veterinarian at The Marine Mammal Center. “Further diagnostic testing will hopefully tell us why this pup veered off course into San Francisco Bay before it came ashore.
