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the richmond richmondreview.com

Indian guru to speak in Richmond

REVIEW
ESTABLISHED 1932 THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2010 32 PAGES

Animal lovers save baby seal $70,000

while out for a walk on Iona Jetty to fight
by Martin van den Hemel
Staff Reporter
Leeann Fisher and Stephanie
Adam, both 19, were destined to
be heroes.
Just a day after visiting the
Vancouver Aquarium for Fisher’s
birthday, and learning about the
steps to take and number to call
should they encounter a mammal
in distress, fate stepped in and
put the Jordan, Ont. natives into
action.
While walking along the Iona
pipeline on Sea Island, in the mid-
afternoon on July 1, they glimpsed
a bald eagle circling overhead.
Not long after, down on the
rocks, they spotted what they
later learned was a newborn seal,
sprawled out on the rocks with its
umbilical cord still attached.
“It looked like it was lost,” Adam
said Monday.
There were indications the seal
was in trouble too. It sounded
hoarse, appeared to be in distress
and was foaming at the mouth.
Both self-confessed animal lov-
ers, they couldn’t just leave.
So they called the Vancouver
Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue
Centre (604-258-7325) and were
instructed to keep an eye on the
seal but to keep a safe distance.
They were asked to send photos
of the animal so staff could deter-
mine if it was healthy or ill.
A couple of hours later, the rescue
centre dispatched a crew to pick up
the seal, which is now getting some
TLC in Vancouver.
“He’s doing pretty well,” centre
spokesperson Alex Pearson said.
Dubbed Blackstrap by the cen-
tre’s staff, the pup was about five
days old when it was found. To-
day’s he’s feeding well, is sporting
quite the attitude and has a prom-
ising prognosis. He’s lost about a
kilogram since he’s come in, but
that may be due to the stress that
came from the rescue.
Blackstrap’s umbilical cord is re-
John McCrossan photo
Leeann Fisher (left) and Stephanie
Adam, both 19, kept an eye on this
newborn seal for a few hours on
Thursday afternoon until a team ar-
rived from the Vancouver Aquarium
Marine Mammal Rescue Centre.
ceiving treatment but he otherwise
had no injuries, Pearson said.
Pearson said Blackstrap is cur-
rently on a liquid diet, but will be
weaned in the coming weeks and
start an all seafood diet.
The seal season is beginning now
and the centre already has had 23
animals come in. It’s not uncom-
mon for the July/August season to
see 70 animal receiving treatment
in the centre.
Pearson said never touch a seal,
as it can bite and its protective
mother may be nearby. It’s normal
to see them on the beach, but if it’s
visibly wounded or in distress, call
the rescue centre for advice.
The non-profit rescue centre relies
on donations and volunteer help to
operate. For inquiries on how to vol-
unteer, call 604-659-3478.
John McCrossan, who happened to
be walking his dog along the pipe-
line when he encountered the two
teens, applauded their efforts to
help this seal in distress, and spend
hours at its side until rescue crews
arrived.
weeds?
City mulls ways to
spend $2.2-million
surplus
by Matthew Hoekstra
Staff Reporter
City council is deciding how
to divvy up $2.2 million of tax-
payers’ money left over from
last year’s budget.
On Monday council faced a
laundry list of ideas from city
staff on how to use the 2009
surplus.
Recommendations include
adding $400,000 to the budget
for legal fees—at a time when
the city is facing a lawsuit from
the Musqueam over the Garden
City lands.
Staff are also requesting
$253,600 to extend the lease
on city office space on Holly-
bridge Way, near the Richmond
Olympic Oval.
Other requests: $676,000
for new staff and consul-
tants; $500,000 for a build-
ing permits stabilization fund,
$228,200 for maintenance (in-
cluding $70,000 to fight weeds
now that a pesticide bylaw is in
place) and $115,000 for a filter
replacement project at Water-
mania.
The unspent cash came
largely from the RCMP, whose
expenses were lower due to
delayed replacements and low-
er overtime costs. Richmond
Fire-Rescue costs, vacancies,
lower fuel prices and unspent
maintenance dollars were also
factors.
The surplus represents ap-
proximately one per cent of the
city’s total operating budget.

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