I am a retired telecom technician. For 4 years I worked as a volunteer on an animal care crew at the Marine Mammal Center, taking care of newborn harbor seal pups who had been abandoned or lost their mother in various ways. We tube-fed the newborns until they are old enough to eat fish, then taught them to eat fish and finally catch fish on their own in the water. Once they got the hang of feeding themselves, and had gained a weight of at least 20kg, we released them in groups into the ocean to live a normal seals' life.
When I discovered that harbor seals were hauling out right here in Alameda, I naturally wanted to help them keep their haulout space here.