15 Minutes with Amber Becerra of Marine Mammal Care Center

What preconceived notions have you noticed people have about your animals? What about them would surprise most people?

There's a lot that people don't really know about marine animals. Particularly, we see a lot of sea lions and seals. Each species has its own personalities. The sea lions for example, are extremely social. We call them ocean puppies because they just basically act like little puppies. They rough house like puppies. They play together. They snuggle. They're very social with each other and they're comfortable more so around humans than the seals are, seals are a bit more reserved. I think they're the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. They're just very chunky and very zenned-out, just chilling, floating in the water. 

People look at both seals and sea lions on the beach and some try to approach them or even think that they are the kind of thing you could pick up. Sadly, it does happen. I would definitely explain to people that these are wild animals. They do look super cute, but it's really important to respect them in their wild habitat. 

Can you take us through the process of what happens when an animal arrives at MMCC LA?

We don't rescue the animals ourselves off the beaches. There's an organization called Marine Animal Rescue that does that. If people do see an animal on the beach that's in distress, they can tell the lifeguard, call this organization or dial 1839-WHALE. They will come out, assess the animal, determine if it needs to be brought in and then they will actually rescue the animal and bring it to us. When it comes in here, it will get an evaluation with Dr. Palmer. We'll do blood work if it's necessary, which oftentimes it is. They can't talk and tell us what's going on with them so it's hard to figure out sometimes. Dr. Palmer’s been doing this for over 15 years now so when patients come in she usually has a pretty good idea of what they're suffering from. 

With Covid, I know volunteer opportunities are currently on hold, but what can people do from home to help MMCC?

We have two veterinarians that are volunteering for us just to try to keep our internal facility basically in lockdown for safety purposes, but we definitely do have roles for volunteers. We are actively always looking for fundraising volunteers. Helping with the virtual events that we host, setting up auctions, or sending letters are good ways to get involved. Following us on social media is also super important. Our handle is @Marinemammalcare on Instagram and Facebook. Additionally, we’re on Amazon Smile. It's a great way to support us, especially because everyone is ordering so much from home right now.

What is giving you hope right now?

People seem to be activated and engaged. Even though things are super challenging right now and people are nervous and scared and don't know what the future holds. I think that the flip side of that is that it's, it really has caused people to become more actively involved in what the future holds. Whether that's paying closer attention to politics or getting involved with different causes. Being open to receiving information about what it is that's really going on, that's been elevated really significantly during these times. I'm hopeful that the end result of that is that it will continue. People will be inspired to really make a change and make a difference and take action because it gets really easy for us to just get in that rat race, just doing the day to day our jobs and families and taking care of business and it's not often that we're forced to step outside of our comfort zone and look around us at what's going on in the world. 

Kate Eplboim is a travel writer and graduate of UCLA who passionately studied Literature and the Environment. Over the last four years, she has cultivated her passion for travel, environmental journalism, and gardening. She is a native of Los Angeles.