They were a bit reluctant at first, but five Guadalupe fur seals went back home to the Pacific Ocean last week.

It had been weeks, maybe months, since they’d been in the deep water. But one by one Thursday the rescued mammals slipped off the edge of a SeaWorld boat and into the water off the San Diego coast.

The boat ride was short, just 10 miles off the coast, but the excursion was notable. Guadalupe fur seals are a threatened species, and this was the first time this year that SeaWorld’s Rescue Team was returning them to the wild.

“Our goal is to rescue, rehabilitate and return,” team supervisor Jeni Smith said as she drove a small boat carrying the protected cargo.

SeaWorld has rescued 36 Guadalupe fur seals over the last five years. The five mammals barking in the back of the boat Thursday had been rescued between January and late April. Each was found skinny and dehydrated. Some were so ailing, they had started to flatten out.

“Flat Stanleys,” Smith said with a laugh. “You wouldn’t recognize them.”

They are healthy now. But, as Smith noted, “When it’s time for us to come rescue them, they are usually in pretty bad shape.”

Each of the five is under a year old. Before rescued pups and yearlings are returned to the ocean, the SeaWorld team ensures they are able to catch live fish, said Eric Otjen, SeaWorld San Diego’s vice president of zoological operation.

“We can’t replace mom, but we can get them healthy and give them a second chance at life,” Otjen said.

When the crew stopped at the release point on the open ocean, they removed a panel door on the side of the boat. It created an opening for the animals to scoot out of their transport unit and dive into the water. “Let’s return some animals!” Otjen cheered.

Three of the fur seals scooted around about two minutes before one suddenly took the plunge. “This guy really wants out. He’s done waiting,” a crew member said. Two fur seals followed, and the trio headed off together, their heads bobbing on the ocean surface.

The last two were not so eager. It took some encouragement fromrescuers before they decided to jump in. But once they hit the water they didn’t look back at the cheering crew.

“They definitely looked very healthy,” Smith said. “They looked like they are gonna have a great time out there.”

Guadalupe fur seals have faced trouble over the last seven years, facing what was dubbed an “unusual mortality event.”

The event lasted from January 2015 through September 2021. Some 715 Guadalupe fur seals and 170 northern fur seals stranded themselves from California to Washington during that time, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, which oversees the nation’s ocean resources and habitat.

Most were malnourished and emaciated pups or yearlings.

NOAA determined the trouble came because there had been fewer fish around to eat, most likely because the Pacific had been unusually warm. The fish that serve as the animals’ source had headed to colder waters. The agency said the years-long mortality event is now considered over.

Guadalupe fur seal breeding grounds are primarily on Guadalupe Island — off the coast of Baja California, 250 miles or so southwest of San Diego.

The species typically grow about 5 feet to 7 feet long and live about 20 years. They are a little fuzzier, more aggressive and quite a bit smaller than the thousands of sea lions found along the California coast.

Guadalupe fur seals tend to stay in deep waters, said Justin Viezbicke, response coordinator for NOAA’s California Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

“If we see them on or near shore that tells us something is going on,” Viezbicke said.

People long thought Guadalupe fur seals had been hunted to extinction. But in the 1950s, a team of researchers found them breeding in a cave on Guadalupe Island, according to NOAA. They were later included on the endangered species list.

The population has continued to recover, allowing them to be upgraded from endangered to threatened. NOAA says they have grown to an estimated population of 31,000 and continue to be monitored.

SeaWorld San Diego is one of two sites NOAA allows to rehabilitate Guadalupe fur seals. The other is the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito not far from the Golden Gate Bridge. The two entities work in partnership, as they did with the rescues this year.

SeaWorld’s first Guadalupe fur seal rescue of the year happened Jan. 2 on a jetty at Tamarack in Carlsbad. “Just a sad little seal on the rocks,” Smith said. The animal was among those returned to the ocean Thursday.

SeaWorld has been home to nine rescued Guadalupe fur seals this year, including four still there. Smith and Otjen said three of them need a few more weeks of rehabilitation before they can be released. The fourth arrived Friday from Marine Mammal Center.

Thursday’s trip back to the ocean was not just for five fortunate fur seals. Also on the boat was a now-hefty northern elephant seal found off the coast of La Jolla roughly two months ago.

“He was skinny, emaciated,” Smith said. “As you can see, that is not the case now.”

The animal is young, and will grow as big a walrus, she said. When it came time to go back to the ocean Thursday, the elephant seal was a only a little reluctant, pausing and checking his surroundings when the crew opened his transport unit.

“Are you ready? Get it. The ocean’s inviting you,” Smith encouraged. The elephant seal inched toward the water and soon slipped into the Pacific.

The trip also offered a glimpse at the manmade challenges the animals face: an ocean of rubbish.

“We live in San Diego, we’ve all seen it — a sick animal next to a pile of trash,” Otjen said.

Along the way to the return site, the boat stopped often for the crew to scoop garbage out of the sea.

They collected a lot of refuse, including four shiny Mylar balloons celebrating dad and grads, still attached to ribbons that can wrap around flippers and fins.

“That makes me so sad,” Smith said as she slowed the boat for the crew to snag a full bag of smelly kitchen trash.

To report stranded sea animals, contact the SeaWorld San Diego Rescue Team at (800) 541-7325 or by email at swc.rescue@seaworld.com.

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