Volunteering: Seal Rehabilitation!

Seal Pup Rehabilitation Internships

Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre is a registered not for profit organization operating under permits from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada and the Ministry of Water,
Land and Air. Recipient of the Islands Trust Environmental Stewardship Award, IWNCC's focus is on the rescue and rehabilitation of orphaned Harbour Seals.

This spring and summer we will be awarding 14 internships. Internships last eight weeks and run from late May to early November. In the peak of summer the hours are long. The work day begins
at 7:30 a.m. and continues until well past midnight. A shift can be 10 - 12 hours per day, six days a week, with one day off.

The internships are on a voluntary basis, however comfortable housing with shared cooking and bathroom facilities are provided as well as a small grocery stipend, wireless internet, and a shared vehicle.
Interns are accepted internationally and are responsible for their own transportation to and from British Columbia.

Interns will work directly under marine mammal rehabilitation specialists and can expect to learn or improve your skills in the following:

- Safe rescue and handling of Harbour Seal pups.
- Proper restraint techniques.
- Stabilizing critical patients and new arrivals.
- Food preparation through all stages of the rehabilitation process.
- Gavage (tube) feeding, force feeding and hand feeding techniques.
- Proper hygiene and isolation protocols to prevent the spread of disease.
- Administration of oral medications.
- Behavioral and medical observation and proper record keeping.
- Natural history of marine mammal species.
- Fundamentals of how, why and when to administer alternative remedies such as homeopathy and Chinese herbs.
- Response to the rescue hotline and public interface as well as the logistics of coordinating rescues from many remote locations.
- General care of many other indigenous avian and mammalian species.

For more information and an application see our website at
www.sealrescue.org

Jeff Lederman
Island Wildlife
322 Langs Road
Salt Spring Island, BC V8K1N3