• About Me
  • Writer’s Corner

Elizabeth Fais

~ Where awesome begins…

Elizabeth Fais

Tag Archives: volunteer

Serving fish milkshakes to elephant seals at The Marine Mammal Center

23 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Animals, Marine Mammals, Nonfiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

California, Conservation, elephant seal pups, Elephant Seals, Elizabeth Fais, Fort Cronkhite, oceanography, racing to extinction, San Francisco, San Francisco Bay Area, Sausalito, The Marine Mammal Center, TMMC, tube feeding, volunteer

elephant seal headshotLike many, I’ve paid my dues as a waitress. I have to say that of all my customers, the ones I loved serving were the elephant seal pups at The Marine Mammal Center.

In the early 1990’s, I spent a year volunteering at The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC) in Sausalito, California. Being a part of an organization that rescues and rehabilitates marine mammals (of all kinds), then releases them back into the wild, was nothing short of life changing.

I was a member of the Sunday night crew responsible for animal care. Each Sunday night we fed and treated a wide range of marine mammals. My favorite were the doe-eyed elephant seal pups. (Yes, I still have our squad sweatshirt!)

Marine Mammal Center Sunday Crew sweatshirt logo

The elephant seal pups in our care had been separated from their mothers, and as a result were undernourished. Our job was to get them healthy enough to release back into the ocean. That meant they had to gain weight. A lot of it.

What do you feed an elephant seal so it packs on the pounds…but is also nutritious and tasty? You might be sorry you asked. I can’t reveal the “secret-recipe“, but it involves whipping together (literally) frozen fish, heavy cream, and a mix of nutritional supplements. A delectable milkshake! Kind of (?) gross, but it works!

The Marine Mammal Center elephant seal

The pups needed to be fed every 3 or 4 hours, and some nights during the El Nino year we had 200 elephant seal pups to feed. This required multi-gallon batches of fish-mash (secret fish milkshake), and three people to tube-feed a single elephant seal pup. One to straddle and restrain the 100+ pound pup, another to guide the tube down its throat and into the abdomen (not the lungs!), and a third to pour the fish mash into a funnel and work it down the tube. *Current pictures and videos show they’ve streamlined the tube feeding procedure so it only requires two people.*

There were some long nights, but it didn’t faze us. I loved the direct Tube feeding an elephant seal pupcontact that came with restraining the elephant seal pups for tube feeding. When I was in a place of calm, the pup responded with trust. Experiencing that type of connection with a wild animal is everything.

You can visit The Marine Mammal Center and see the amazing work they do up close. The center is just North of San Francisco in the Marin Headlands. Check the web site for visiting hours. (PC: The Marine Mammal Center, except the photo of the sweatshirt which I took myself)

The Marine Mammal Center
2000 Bunker Road | Fort Cronkhite | Sausalito, CA 94965-2619

What’s on the menu at The Marine Mammal Center?


 

The Magic of “Giving”

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Giving Back, Holiday, Inspiration, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

California, Elizabeth Fais, Giving Back, happiness, Happy Holidays, holiday giving, Holidays, key to happiness, non-profit organizations, Random Acts of Kindness, Sausalito, The Marine Mammal Center, volunteer

The holiday season sparkles with promise. A mystical quality tempts us to peerDisneyland fireworks, Rivers of America beyond the veil into a place brimming with never-ending happiness…like living at Disneyland.

As children we embraced that joy with our whole heart. But as we grew older and more jaded, we lost the connection with the magic, some turning into die-hard cynics because it never reappeared.

The good news is, the magic is still there any time you want it.

The bad news is, you’ve had the key all along and didn’t know it.

The Key to Happiness is Helping Others

Yeah, I know. It sounds like watered down fortune-cookie wisdom. Still, it happens to be true. I’m talking from personal experience too, not reciting something from a Fast-Pass-to-Enlightenment guide. Giving is the focus of many faiths at this time of year, and for good reason.

As a teenager, I was suffered the same angst and self-doubt as everyone else. I was a nerdy overachiever with a side of art-geek, who thought happiness lay in chasing a goal. Funny how when I finally got “there”, happiness had already left the building. Sadly, this delusion lasted for years.

opendoor2Finally, I had the good sense to volunteer at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, after moving to San Francisco. I thought it would be a good way to meet people with the same interests, which it was. But more important, the experience opened me up to the secret of happiness. There’s a wonderful energy that comes from giving selflessly. Our Sunday Night Crew signed in at 5:00 pm, and in an El Nino winter, we often didn’t leave until sunrise. And we had a GREAT time on our shift too! I’d get home in time to shower and head to work. Magically, the energy carried me through the day…with a smile on my face.

A QuickStart Guide to Giving

If you’re one of the many who don’t have time to volunteer for a non-profit organization on a regular basis, you can do something to “give” everyday. And you’ll be surprised by the happiness you receive in return.

  • Give gently used clothes to local shelters or non-profit organizations.
  • Give towels and bedding to local animal shelters and rescue organizations.
  • For more options for giving to local animal shelters, see my It’s Hard to Be a (Grumpy) Cat at Christmas post.
  • Smile and say something nice to the checkout person at the grocery store. Your kind words will make their day.
  • At the end of a conversation with a Customer Service representative, when they ask you if there’s anything else they can do for you? Say, “Yes. Have a Happy Holiday!” Or, “Have wonderful day!” depending on the season.
  • Perform random acts of kindness, helping strangers in unexpected ways.
  • Leave a copy of a favorite book on a table or bench with a “This is yours to enjoy!” note inside to whoever finds it. There’s a Teen Book Drop event called Rock the Drop I’ve participated in for several years now. Why not spread the reading love all year long?!
  • Use a special talent, such as calligraphy, design, or organizational skills to help a non-profit organization promote an event.

The truth is, the more you give the happier you are…and the more you realize you have to give…in ways you never thought possible. It costs so little and the reward is priceless.

Here’s to magically Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year too!

Fireworks hearts

Calendar

January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« May    

Enter your email address to have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

Join 232 other followers

It's really me!

  • Elizabeth Fais

Life is Tweet

Follow @elizabethfais

Recent Posts

  • MG Review ~ HOW I BECAME A SPY
  • The “Creative High” is real!
  • MG Review: Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
  • Weird things I wonder about: WHY butt pockets?!!
  • MG Review: FRONT DESK by Kelly Yang
  • MG Review: WISH by Barbara O’connor
  • Television IS writing research!

Past Posts

Officially SCBWI


Member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Reading Fun

Advice for Writers

I Write for Apples

Author Photos


Categories

Adventure Amazing but true! Animals Animation Blake Snyder Book Reviews Books Cats Character Dancing Disneyland Elizabeth Fais Fiction Fun Facts Funny Videos Giveaway Giving Back Holiday Humor Inspiration Middle Grade Movies Music Mystery Nonfiction Paranormal Reading Romance SCBWI Shakespeare Story Supernatural Thriller Winner! Writing YA YAppiest Young Adult Zombies

Keeping It Real

wordpress analytics

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel