Running for an ocean rescue

CINTHIA RITCHIE

August 14, 2008 at 11:26AM AKST

Rocky the sea otter doesn’t own a pair of Nike sneakers. He doesn’t care about race times or training techniques. His legs are too short for running.

Nevertheless, rescued marine animals such as Rocky are the driving force behind the Alaska SeaLife Center’s annual Wildlife Rescue Run.

This year’s race was held Aug. 2 and hosted 120 runners and over 40 walkers. It also brought in almost $4,000 for the center’s rescue and rehabilitation program.

According to stranding coordinator Tim Lebling, the race is one of the program’s main fundraisers—the other is the annual miniature golf tournament in March.

The center is Alaska’s sole research rehabilitation facility and it therefore responds to live animal rescues across the state. That, said Lebling, is a big challenge. The center brings in around 30 lives animals a year, 75 birds and 30 dead animals, which are necropsied to determine the cause of their death.

“The program, as with most programs, is always under funding crunches,” Lebling said. “We are always looking for other sources to raise money so we can continue to do what we do.”

Transportation is a major rescue costs setback. While many airlines donate flight space for the animals, flights, attendant costs can easily run in the thousands.

“And then there’s the dollar amount it costs to do the rehabilitation,” Lebling said. “Obviously, the larger the animal, the more food and people you need.”

Still, he believes their efforts are worth it. It’s far better to try and fail then “have animals just die on the beach.”

The rescue season begins in May and peaks in June.

“And then in July we get calls about injured walrus calves and sea otter pups,” Lebling said.

The majority of the animals are released back in the wild in September, except for those that need to weather over the winter.

The Rescue Run tries to keep the spirit of the animals in mind by offering a limited edition T-shirt featuring a different rescued animal each year. The list so far includes a sea otter, bearded seal, walrus, ring seal, Steller sea lion and spotted seal.

“We’ve had people sign up for the race whether or not they’re racing because it’s kind of been a novelty to collect the T-shirts,” Libling said.

The 5-kilometer run, which starts and ends at the SeaLife Center, follows the ocean front out toward the harbor and back. Most participants are local, and this year Sewardites swept all divisions, with Travis Price grabbing the men’s division and the Foldagers taking over the women’s, with Rubye taking first, Denali close behind in second and mother Patti coming in third. Rose Terry won the girls’ junior race and Gillean Szweda Mittelstadt the boys’.

According to Lebling, the magic of working in the rescue and rehabilitation program is the attachment you feel for the animals. One of the challenges is making sure they don’t become attached to staff, since the goal is to return them to the wild.

“When we lose an animal or release an animal, it’s the same feeling,” he said. “They all have souls. And yes, we need to learn from them but at the same time we need to respect them and be thankful for what they give.”

Cinthia Ritchie can be reached at 907-342-2428 or toll free at 800-770-9830, ext. 428.