I know they are cute ..... but....... the effort and money is NOT well spent

[Cuba Libre]

https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/news/not-all-seal-pups-you-see-alone-need-to-be-rescued/

 

[Matsutake]

Orcas gotta eat, same for crabs.

 

[california]

For the Aqarium the money is extremely well spent. They get publicity in newspapers, donations to their programs and boosts to attendance. The only more lucrative rescue than seal pups is sea otters. The rescues have nothing to do with the animals, 4 seals one way or another is insignificant to the population, but 4 baby seals means quite a bit financially to the Aquarium.

 

[Peahead]

For the Aqarium the money is extremely well spent. They get publicity in newspapers, donations to their programs and boosts to attendance. The only more lucrative rescue than seal pups is sea otters. The rescues have nothing to do with the animals, 4 seals one way or another is insignificant to the population, but 4 baby seals means quite a bit financially to the Aquarium.

^^^ this 100% bang on. I have had several e-mail transactions recently with the Vancouver Aquarium and it has become perfectly clear to me that what california states above is absolutely correct. It has to do with incoming donations and membership numbers. Cute pinnipeds/harbour seals being rescued and 'saved' brings buckets of cash. By providing the somewhat uneducated public of what they think they want, they will donate.

The Aquarium agrees that harbour seal populations have experienced exponential growth and they agree that seals eat salmon. They however choose to 'cherry pick' only the research that shows the seals target mainly juvenile coho ( over Chinook) and other fin fish. While juvenile Coho being a targeted food source is of some concern to me too, when I pointed out a study that estimated 30-50% of out-migrating juvenile Chinook were eaten by seals, I got little to no comment. I felt it was basically a response of denial. The aquarium likes to use buzz words like "suffering", "pain" and "distress", to validate their practice when as california has pointed out, we know what is the driving force behind the practice.

The SRKW decline will likely be a concern for the Vancouver Aquarium's Marine Mammal Rescue Center, just as it is for everyone else. That SRKW decline being blamed partly on lack of main food supply (Chinook) and the fact that up to 50% of Chinook may be eaten each year by the exponential growth of pinniped population, you'd hope the Aquarium will make some specific changes to their program . Naturally damaged sick and suffering seals may be best taken care of in a different but humane way . If the Aquarium looks to be ignoring the problems that pinnipeds are directly or indirectly causing, the tides ( and supporters) could perhaps change on them one day.