Ocean Hoptimism

We kicked off 2026 with a bang (and a bark). 🦭🍻

Seals and sea lions have a way of making us pay attention. They haul out on beaches, look us in the eye, and—whether we deserve it or not—remind us we’re connected. When one of them is in trouble, the whole coastline feels it. Eventually so do we.

For half a century, The Marine Mammal Center has turned that connection into action, rescuing and rehabilitating thousands of sick and injured animals across California and Hawai‘i. But here’s the thing most people miss: every patient tells a story about the ocean’s health, and about us. They’re warnings. Clues. And sometimes, proof that care, time, and restraint can still leave a visible mark.

On January 22, we brought in someone who knows those stories better than almost anyone: Adam Ratner, Director of Conservation Engagement and one of the great interpreters of what marine mammals have been trying to tell us all along.

Adam took us behind the scenes with real patient case studies across multiple species, showing what it looks like when rescue, science, and care intersect… right at the shoreline. A few takeaways that stuck: One of the biggest reasons seals and sea lions end up at The Marine Mammal Center is leptospirosis outbreaks—yes, the same pathogen we vaccinate our dogs against. Another is pup separation, increasingly linked to habitat disruption as sea level rise shrinks or wipes out historic haul-outs and rookery space. Climate change hits fast.

Adam also talked about H5N1 (bird flu) as an emerging threat to seals. The Marine Mammal Center is taking that threat seriously—testing an HPAI vaccine on northern elephant seals in Sausalito to help protect Hawaiian monk seals next. Monk seals are especially vulnerable, with only ~1,600 remaining.

Adam closed with a simple challenge: practice ocean heroism. If you see a stranded seal or sea lion, don’t approach. Don’t touch. Call it in. Support organizations doing the hard work. And take collective action—small moves, stacked together, create real momentum.

Adam’s work is about empowerment: helping people see themselves as part of the solution, not spectators to decline.

— Adam Ratner