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---
title: Photos: Record Number of Starving Sea Lions in California
description: The Marine Mammal Center, currently dealing with a record number of starving sea lion pups, has been caring for animals for nearly 40 years
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article:published_time: 2014-05-13T16:01:15.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:08:24.700Z
article:section: Science
og:title: Photos: Insides a Hospital for California's Stranded Seals and Sea Lions
og:description: The Marine Mammal Center, currently dealing with a record number of starving sea lion pups, has been caring for animals for nearly 40 years. Photos by Corey Arnold for TIME facebook.com/fishwork
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og:image:alt: Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center
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twitter:title: Photos: Insides a Hospital for California's Stranded Seals and Sea Lions
twitter:description: The Marine Mammal Center, currently dealing with a record number of starving sea lion pups, has been caring for animals for nearly 40 years. Photos by Corey Arnold for TIME facebook.com/fishwork
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c09abafa6d0603d/69868ef006f2c1503232ed57/140509_marinemammal_2111-e1399996639918.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# Photos: Inside a Hospital for California's Stranded Seals and Sea Lions

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by 

[TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/)


## TIME Photo


May 13, 2014 4:01 PM UTC

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c09abafa6d0603d/69868ef006f2c1503232ed57/140509_marinemammal_2111-e1399996639918.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

A malnourished elephant seal pup looks outside a pen at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014.

A malnourished elephant seal pup looks outside a pen at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

by 

[TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/)


## TIME Photo


May 13, 2014 4:01 PM UTC

The Marine Mammal Center, currently dealing with a record number of starving sea lion pups, has been caring for stranded sea animals since volunteers started the animal hospital with kiddie pools nearly 40 years ago

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bb2a17efa88e536/69868eebf983e71f2804dc26/140509_marinemammal_0056.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

A California sea lion sits on the edge of a pool at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f039e5c4f84211f/69868eefcd68482a480949b0/140509_marinemammal_1557.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

California sea lions swim and sit out in the sun while visitors look on at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc7aab8431938a975/69868eed810bbb1a83c91875/140509_marinemammal_0833.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Harbor seal pups wear plastic identification tags that help caregivers tell them apart at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6d986bd865c40bc/69868eecf983e72bf104dc2a/140509_marinemammal_0287.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Herring breakfasts are organized and labeled for each seal and sea lion at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME


![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt130f8a35e325332b/69868eed13c79f9bb61920ae/140509_marinemammal_0632.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

A harbor seal pup wears a plastic "hat tag," used to identify individual animals at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c09abafa6d0603d/69868ef006f2c1503232ed57/140509_marinemammal_2111-e1399996639918.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

A malnourished elephant seal pup looks outside a pen at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc25f2a057ea24e7c/69868eec3bc9995b531a3687/140509_marinemammal_0359.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Volunteers tube-feed a malnourished harbor seal pup at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME


![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98ce682c39068daf/69868eec361760456990bf41/140509_marinemammal_0109.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

A volunteer restrains an elephant seal pup while the animal is fed through a tube at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd1beedbe4b50c45/69868eedadae44c3c7543076/140509_marinemammal_0911.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

A shaved patch on the back of a harbor seal shows where blood was drawn during an admit exam at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt156ed97e6173a2e2/69868eefadae447d5854307f/140509_marinemammal_1989.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Seals and sea lions released back into their natural habitat are added to annual graduation posters at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif., May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME


![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78bc685e713773ba/69868eee3bc99958641a368c/140509_marinemammal_1093.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Researchers perform a necropsy on a California sea lion that died of malnutrition at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76b7f60ac46d856f/69868eeecd804d2b89ccad2a/140509_marinemammal_1853.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Dr. Shawn Johnson, Director of Veterinary Science, listens to the lungs of a young sea lion under anesthesia at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaef73eec1f27ad43/69868eef35ba6f7ec6c01f3c/140509_marinemammal_1917.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

A California sea lion pup undergoes surgery for a lymph node abscess at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME


![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5fb6582574e9760/69868ef0169ab0f7b027941b/140509_marinemammal_2002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Students on a field trip learn what to do if they find a stranded seal on the beach at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6edaafe6f4b77ec6/69868eee55a859fcf5a80ca4/140509_marinemammal_2781.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Siobhan Rickert, 18, has been a volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center for four years She is one of a dedicated network of 1,100 volunteers who help run the facility in Marin County, Calif., May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte01e6bb616df575a/69868eee13c79ff2951920b2/140509_marinemammal_2187.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

An elephant seal pup lies in an enclosure at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME


![Sick Baby Seals Marine Mammal Center](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltab2b83351bb3ee3f/69868eee1eebf77897370d82/140509_marinemammal_2892.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

The Marine Mammal Center sits where the U.S. military once had a missile site outside San Francisco, in the Marin Headlands, Calif., May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME

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