Ocean view

On my way to the beach, I found a sign warning of cats crossing the street. I did see a cat, but he hid before I could take his picture as he sat in the road.

The Wadden sea. This is at low tide, and is the closest you can safely get. The coast is all mud, and it is a popular sport to go mud hiking. However, with the tides it is unsafe and illegal to do without a guide.

Necropsy

So, I don't get much time off here. Which is perfectly fine; I am here to work and learn, and they don't hesitate to give me the time off I do ask for. And being the nerd I am, I spend my days off watching necropsies.

It is amazing to see the physical manifestation of the problems distressing the seals; the main problem the seals come in with are lungworms. The parasites burrow in the lungs and trachea, creating holes that allow air to escape from the lungs and into surrounding tissue. This creates massive air bubbles surrounding the heart and into the neck; literally the size of a softball in a 15 kg seal.

Although extremely interesting, I think the pics of the necropsy would be disrespectful to post online, so instead here are more happy baby seals:

Pics - Overdose of Baby Seal

When they curl up on their sides, holding their hind flippers, the seals are supposed to be relaxed. While we do many stressful things to the sick baby seals involving medication and cleaning with squeegees, overall I think they are pretty content during there short stay here. Especially when their appetite returns and they figure out all we really want to do is feed them all the herring they can eat.

Pictures

I have so many pictures that I haven't posted since I only talk about specific stories...so maybe I will just start posting pics with short descriptions.

The horses here are either very tall, or short and stocky. This one lives in a neighbor's front yard.

The grey seals are so curious about everything around them. They continually pop there heads out of the water, watching you. Then they sink back down, and pop right back up. Endlessly entertaining. The common seals will do this as well, but I think to stay hidden. We have a new quareentine, where the seals each have there own bathtub. A bathtub was empty, and a seal was in it. He kept poking out his head, saw us, and then hid again. He would only remember to stay down a few seconds though.

A nearby church, with a beautiful graveyard dating back in the 1800's

The houses here have amazing architecture, and beautiful designs. They seem small, but make use of space well, with really high ceilings.

The front of the seal hospital, complete with our rescue ambulance :)

Eenrum

Today I had a split shift, working in the morning and then evening. That left me a wonderful, sunny afternoon for a bike ride through the countryside to a nearby town, Eenrum. It is a bit bigger than Pieterburen, with several shops and restaurants, as well as a real grocery store. We have a small organic store in Pieterburen but it only carriers some of the fancier more expensive foods. Eenrum is beautiful, and has some fun things. There is a clog maker, and a mustard making museum. And the Netherlands are so flat that the 5 km bike ride was very easy and pleasant.

At work this morning I was hand feeding two grey seals, and one was constantly opening its mouth and crying to be fed. But the poor seal couldn't keep the fish in it's mouth; I would insert the fish, and unless I slowly pushed the fish all the way down (seals swollow their food whole, they don't chew) it would just fall out. It must be so frustrating for him.

Fishing net

A large problem for seals in the Wadden sea is fishing nets. They get entangelled, and can drown or become injured. Injuries of course can get infected, and it doesn't end well for the seal. Fishermen find these nets in the ocean and would be happy to bring them back to shore to help keep seals safe, but in the Netherlands you are charged for the amount of waste you dispose. Fisherman didn't want the charges, so they left the nets. The hospital I work at thought this was insane, so they offered to take the nets. This photo is the pile of nets brought in after only one year (it is towering, probably 2-3 times larger than the building). After the government saw this, they changed the law so now fisherman can bring in and dispose of fishing nets for free :)

Seals, goats and horses

Pieterburen is a very agricultural area. Kilometer after kilometer of farmland, with sidewalks bisecting the land so you can get from town to town. There are lots of chickens, goats, and horses as well. But they are so different from the ones in the states; they seem to be a bit burlier, with stocky legs closer to the ground. They are also fuzzier; they have very long, coarse hair all over their bodies. And the goats have very interesting horns that curl out horizontally. It seems a bit ackward to move around with.

And of course, another baby seal ^_^ I was cleaning (this job involves lots of cleaning) and was giving a seal a shower, and he just rolled over so he could enjoy the water belly up.