by Eduardo Storch
This beautiful spring weekend, we headed east. We stopped by Richard's place in Punta Colorada (SOS Marine Wildlife Rescue NGO). There was a sea wolf pup that had been found really sick on the coast and was now recovering. It’ll be a while before it can go back to the ocean since they're still bottle-feeding it and treating it with antibiotics for a lung infection. Richard has rescued turtles, penguins, seals, and sea wolves from the shores, and people call him whenever they spot a marine animal in trouble. He quickly rushes to the rescue and brings them to his facility for care.
One of the turtles they rescued wasn’t eating, and an ultrasound showed it had a plastic bag in its stomach, which they were able to remove after giving it laxatives. It’s not uncommon for turtles to mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them. The work SOS Marine Wildlife Rescue does is amazing.
In Punta del Este, we visited the port where the fishermen hang out. Lots of locals and tourists come to buy fish or just enjoy the beautiful views. Seagulls and some sea wolves are always on the lookout for scraps the fishermen throw out after cleaning their catch. Just a few kilometres from Punta del Este is Isla Lobos (Wolf´s Island), a protected natural area with the largest concentration of sea wolves in the world (the adults can weigh between 300 and 400 kilos). There are also some sea lions there.
One of the fishermen tossed fish to a sea wolf, it come up on the pier amd the fisherman invited both kids and adults to feed it. On the island, especially during breeding season, it’s better to keep a safe distancefrom them, but in the port, with caution, it was no problem. Everyone loved it and I could get pretty close to take photos.
After that, we strolled along the dock, where there's always some interesting character hanging around, and in the afternoon, we headed back to Montevideo after enjoying a delicious seafood stew.
