Two recuperated sea lion pups equipped with expensive satellite tags to monitor their progress were returned to the sea and are faring well and foraging afar, officials at Laguna Beach’s Pacific Marine Mammal Center said this week. The tags, which cost from $1,700 to $3,000 apiece, track how far the sea mammals travel, how long [...]
With the federal government declaring the extraordinary number of starving sea lion pups along the Southern California coastline an “unusual mortality event,” the door is opened for possible emergency funding for the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, a center spokesperson said this week. Nearly 150 young sea lions are now receiving emergency care at PMMC, the [...]
Last weekend, three sick sea lion pups came up on the shore and rocks below Laguna Beach’s Heisler Park and a dog that had broken free of its owner’s leash attacked another near the Treasure Island tide pools below the Montage resort. The injured young sea lion later died due to the inflicted wounds, according [...]
Coastal animal services officer Dana Friedman slipped a bony and listless 20-pound sea lion pup out of his rescue truck and into a portable dog cage and carried it into the Pacific Marine Mammal Center here early Wednesday afternoon. Forty pounds underweight, the sickly sea lion pup was taken inside and swaddled in warm blankets, [...]
Learning About Marine Mammal Rescue Bring along lunch on Wednesday, Jan. 16 and learn about one of Laguna Beach’s institutions, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, and its rescue efforts at a noon presentation at Laguna Presbyterian Church, 415 Forest Ave. “We’re open for the public to visit and this presentation will be an excellent introduction [...]
Youngster Julia Wolfe might get a lick of a snow cone or a hop in a bounce house this Sunday, Aug. 26, at a carnival she’s organized in Newport Beach’s Bonita Canyon Park to support the rescue of sea mammals. Julia already contributed $200 to Laguna Beach’s Pacific Marine Mammal Center by hosting bake sales [...]
By Ben Bodart, Special to the Independent Rescuers, forced by nightfall to quit efforts to cut lines entangling a whale spotted near Laguna Beach on Tuesday, were unsuccessful in locating the 40-foot gray again by Thursday. The animal was last seen heading west into deeper and potentially more dangerous waters for rescue crews. It [...]
UPDATE By Ben Bodart, Special to the Independent Rescuers accomplished something of a marine miracle offshore Laguna Beach last weekend, but apparently their efforts ultimately were not enough. Members of the town’s Pacific Marine Mammal Center and a special whale disentanglement team from the National Marine Fisheries Services successfully freed a young [...]
Editor, It is with a grateful heart that we at PMMC extend to all of you our best wishes for a new year. We have been truly fortunate to have come through this challenging year with the extraordinary support of our donors, supporters, visitors and colleagues. The “new” PMMC is better than ever. What seemed, [...]
Nurseryman Kevin Naughton says the devastation that wrecked his Laguna Gardens Nursery “was unlike other storms” that have come through the canyon. It had all the characteristics of a flash flood, a wall of water that “blew out everything in its path,” he said, including 100-pound statues and a cinder block wall that toppled intact.
Indeed, Naughton’s property, once filled with garden accessories, ceramic pots and healthy greenery at the corner of Laguna Canyon and Raquel roads, this week looked like it had been in the path of a steamroller and a tornado.
Police Use Taser to Subdue Assault Suspect
An assault involving three men escalated into a struggle with Laguna Beach police, who ultimately deployed a taser twice to subdue the younger combative suspect in the 300 block of Cozumel around 1:15 a.m. Friday, May 10, police said. Police ultimately arrested Laguna Beach resident Sergio Gabriel Borgognone, 51, for allegedly resisting arrest and his [...]
