Antigua

A few days ago I got a call from Reid saying we had a mission and time was of the essence. A small harbor seal pup had come ashore and was suffering from several wounds and appeared to be abandoned. We met up at the the Horizon Lines crane facility in gear ready to capture the seal, put it in a modified dog kennel and get it to cargo where the little critter was going to be flown to Anchorage and the Alaska Sealife Center was going to pick her up from there and take her back for evaluation and possibly rehabilitation.

When we arrived on scene the seal was gone, we searched the shore and under debris but he was no where to be found and we scrapped the plan. A day or so later, he was spotted again on the beach near Magone Marine, this time everyone and everything was in place and Reid was able to capture the seal and get her in the kennel.

The problem now is the air cargo was closed and Penair would not ship the animal by itself. Enter me and my flight out later that night. Reid called and asked if I’d take the seal as checked baggage. I said if you were paying for it I’d be happy to take her along.

Antigua

Everything was in place, I’d take the seal as a ‘pet’ via checked luggage, the good folks on the animal rescue team from the Alaska Sealife Center would drive up from Seward that night and meet us at the airport and take her back.

As an added bonus, the folks at the Alaska Sealife Center told Reid that I could name her. This years theme for rescued animals is ‘Coffee’.  First thing in my head was Antigua. I passed it on the staff of the Sealife Center when we met in Anchorage and they said they would check it out.

I’m happy to say that officially her name is Antigua, after the coffee from Guatemala Antigua. You can check up on Antigua at the Sealife Centers official website.