For any child, spending a day with the Coast Guard would be something special.  The unique experience of being able to have one-on-one time a unit is something quite out of the ordinary and exciting.  This was evident through the excitement that showed brightly in the smiles of ten-year-old Richie Wood when he had the opportunity be a Coastie for a Day with Port Security Unit (PSU) 311 in August.
     Richie is no ordinary child.  This hip-hop dancing, straight-A student, rock wall climber, was diagnosed with Goldenhar Syndrome at a very early age.  Goldenhar Syndrome is a congenital birth defect, which has no genetic or hereditary cause, no cure and something Richie has had to live with for his entire life.
     "He will be going though a series of surgeries to help correct some of the abnormalities in the way his body has developed, and those surgeries are very, very painful," PSU commanding officer, Cmdr. Kenneth Stefanisin, explained why he invited Richie to the unit.  "When he's going to be coming up on things like this, [his parents] have always tried to do something special for him to help him get through this."
     At 7:30 a.m. sharp, the crew stood in formation waiting instruction from the commanding officer.  Richie, standing next to PSC Ernest Gomez, already looked like a unit member, wearing the same desert uniform, even though it was little oversized, folded over at the waist and the sleeves were rolled to his elbows. 
     Stefanisin welcomed everyone with a booming command.
     "Good morning! Seaman Wood, front and center!"
     A little intimidated at first, though also visibly excited, Richie marched to the commander's side, closely following the chief.  Once the new seaman was in position, the crew was officially introduced to their new member, and directed by Stefanisin to get him qualified in as many things as possible.
     The day proved to be full of adventure for Richie with lots of activities.  He started his day off with a tour of the unit's boathouse and the Maritime Safety and Security Team's boathouse next door. While he there, Gomez lifted him into the different boats and explained the equipment each boat had. 
     Once they were finished in the boathouse, Richie had the opportunity to go for a quick boat ride with the Los Angeles County Lifeguards. During his ride they met up with a boat crew from the MSST.  The coxswain of the MSST boat and the lifeguards teamed together and allowed Richie to douse one of the MSST boat members with the water hose on the lifeguard boat.  Richie's smile was infectious, even to the drenched Coastie. After his ride with the lifeguards the excitement really kicked in.
     The members of PSU 311 had two boats waiting for him at the Coast Guard dock to take him on a longer boat ride out to sea. On the way out Richie and the crew saw a couple of sea lions basking in the sun on top of the buoys.  A little further out they discovered they were in a pod of dolphins that were playing around the boat.  Then, about five miles out, it all changed.
     In a simulated experience for Richie, the boat's "secret gray phone" rang.  The person on the other end told the coxswain that pirates were spotted offshore and Richie had to take out the engines!  PS2 John Clark helped his new shipmate load the machine gun (with blanks) so he could fire at the simulated pirates. The pure joy of being able to do something to help keep Los Angeles safe from pretend pirates  brought lots of cheering and laughter from the young Coastie for a Day.
     Richie's day concluded with the Chief's Mess inducting him as an honorary Chief, which left him just about speechless.
     "This is very special, Richie.  They don't even let me in!" Stefanisin told him, which brought laughter from the boy and everyone around. 
     "This was an incredibly special day for Richie," his stepmother Tracy said.  
     It was also special to the crew.
     "I always enjoy in participating in events where we get to educate kids and show them what we do," Clark said. "This young little warrior walked tall and proud with an unbelievable confidence.  I don't believe anyone ever bothered to explain fear and failure to him. Then again, that is a luxury I believe he simply can't afford.
     "My job was to be a teacher and guide to Richie and give him the most out of the experience.  I think I learned more by what Richie had to offer me.  You can't put any price or value on this kind of training."
     "Richie is one of the bravest, strongest kids I have ever met," his stepmother said.  "He has undergone countless operations, and has some really extensive surgeries coming up that would make an adult quiver just thinking about.  But Richie just smiles, ‘cause he's been there, done that."
     What was the best part of the day for Richie? He said he enjoyed everything; driving the boats, seeing the sea lions, playing with the dolphins and keeping Los Angeles safe, it was a true adventure for him. The smile that spread across his face, and the stories he was already telling his parents, said it all.

     On the clear, crisp morning of Dec. 17, the crewmembers of the Coast Guard Cutter George Cobb helped load an 1,100 pound sea lion onto the deck of the buoy tender.  Their mission today would be to transport "Captain Hook" 60 miles off the coast of California to a sea lion habitat near San Clemente Island. 

    The crew worked with the members of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, whose staff and volunteers originally rescued the sea lion in October near Newport Beach.  This would be the first of two rescues for "Captain Hook," who was nicknamed because he had more than 70 hooks and lines attached to him when rescued.  He then spent about a month at the Center where a veterinarian removed the hooks, the volunteers helped fattened him up and the staff worked to rehabilitate and help heal his wounds.  He was released near San Onofre, Calif., Nov. 10 and within a week needed rescuing again, this time with more hooks attached to him. "Captain Hook" was sent back to the "rehab" facility on Nov. 19 where he would spend nearly a month.

     "The idea behind rehabilitation is to send the animals back into the wild as healthy as possible," Melissa Sciacca, the director of development for the center said. "The animals will eat about 50 pounds of fish a day while in captivity.  We try to fatten them up as much as we can so they have a better chance of survival once they are released. ‘Captain Hook' seemed to enjoy claiming fish that were already claimed by fishermen.  Hopefully by taking him out to San Clemente Island he will have more food and not feel the need to compete with the fishermen."

     Because he was so big, "Captain Hook" needed a very large boat to transport him to the habitat off San Clemente Island. 
"This is a great opportunity to help out the environment," said Lt.Cmdr. Shawn Decker, the commanding officer of the George Cobb.  "One of our core missions is to protect the marine life. What better way to do that than to help with the release of this sea lion into an environment where he has the chance at a better life?"

     The morning started early for "Captain Hook" when he was loaded into his transport cage and taken from the Center in Laguna Beach to the cutter in San Pedro. To move him and his cage from the pick-up to the cutter, slings were used, which were then attached to the crane of the buoy tender. Very carefully, BM2 Justin Abold gave the signals to the crane operator, MK1 David Einchenlaub, directing him where to send the crane to place the cage on the ship. After some loud input from the sea lion, he was safely on deck and secured into place.

     At 9 a.m. the Cobb's crew and their guests, staff and volunteers from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, and a camera crew from National Geographic began the 60 mile journey with "Captain Hook" to his new home.  Through the entire ride "Captain Hook" seemed at ease with the movement of the ship and the interested humans who could not look at him enough while they said their goodbyes to him.

     "We've had him with us for about two months," Kelli Lewis, the center's educational director said.  "We all get attached to the animals we work with.  Each of them has their own distinct personality and distinct sounds.  For a lot of the people who work with them, the release is emotional.  Of course, the most important thing is to see them thrive in their natural environment."
About three hours into the voyage Dean Gomersall, the animal care supervisor for the Center, Lt. Cmdr. Decker and Sciacca gathered around the chart table on the bridge to decide the best place to release the large mammal.  Finally they choose a place that is a known sea lion habitat with "lots of female sea lions" and plenty of food.  Sciacca believes these factors will give "Captain Hook" the best chance of survival.  

     At about 1:30 in the afternoon the sun had slid behind puffy white clouds, and "Captain Hook" seemed to know he was near his new home. He woke up, started looking around and calling out. A couple of the volunteers tried to soothe him, telling him it wouldn't be long before he was swimming again with other sea lions.  With that promise, the ship slowed to a stop and the ideal spot for his release was decided on.

     Sciacca and Gomersall crawled on top of his cage to pull the door open as two volunteers from the center and Cobb crewmember, SN Heriberto Arambula, stood on either side holding large plywood boards to coax the mammal to jump from his cage to the water. 

     As if the Times Square ball was dropping on New Year's Eve, everyone counted down from ten.

     "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! ONE!"

     Sciacca and Gomersall opened the door and told him to jump into the water. "Captain Hook" looked around a little, as if he was contemplating his best escape.  To everyone's satisfaction he decided on the water.  With a big splash and lots of cheers the sea lion entered the Pacific Ocean and swam toward the island.  After a couple of minutes swimming under the water, he poked his head up and seemed to look back to the humans who rescued him, cared for him, and set him free.  He wasted no time in finding new friends.  Soon after poking his head up, he was seen swimming with two other sea lions, a couple of females, the volunteers suspected.

     "This isn't something we get to do all the time," Decker said, "but it is really neat we were able to help send him back into the wild. I hope we can work with the center in the future to do more good deeds such as this."
 

Public Affairs Detachment [Los Angeles, Calif.] U.S. Coast Guard

Press Release

Date: 18 January, 2005 Contact: PADET LA (310) 732-7351

Coast Guard Assists in Cleaning Oiled Grebes (Feature Story)

Los Angeles- As the torrential rain subsided in Southern California, the first of over a thousand lifeless Western Grebes began washing up on the shores of Ventura County, Calif. Marine Safety Office Detachment Santa Barbara, MSO L.A./Long Beach and the California Department of Fish and Game joined forces to recover the birds that remained oiled, yet alive, and investigate the source that oiled them. “We worked with the MSO and the Coast Guard Auxiliary in doing over flights and shoreline assessments as well as taking samples for testing from natural seeps located at sea,” said Chief Petty Officer John Lazader. “So far the oil from the birds has matched, but that oil has not matched any known natural seeps or other reported incidents.” Along with the investigation, there is still a need to rehabilitate the birds that are recovered alive. “All together we had a terrific volunteer turn out, over 125 people volunteered at the peak of the incident and we have 30 people remaining to wrap things up,” said Rob Hughes, a Department of Fish and Game public affairs officer. Members from Integrated Support Command San Pedro also volunteered time cleaning and rehabilitating the oiled birds. “We volunteered to help clean birds because we felt the need to lend a hand and to assist in the efforts to helping these animals and their environment,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Claude Bovell, a food service specialist at ISC San Pedro who assisted in the cleanup and recovery efforts. “They are in need of our help and we plan on volunteering more of our time if needed in the future.” The California Department of Fish and Game has recovered over 1,500 oiled Grebes. “Unfortunately the turn around for the bird has not gone so well, out of the 1,500 birds recovered, 1,172 of them have been found dead and only 158 birds have been released into the wild alive,” said Hughes. Some of the Grebes released back into the wild were outfitted with bands to check and monitor the mortality rate of the previously oiled birds. “We’ll be able to check on the birds as they are re-gathered or in worse case scenarios die and monitor their progress in their own habitat,” said Hughes.

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