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Story by SGT Kimberly D. Snow
196th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Deputy Sheriff Nick Taylor, a motorcycle patrol officer from Polk City, Fla., arrived Aug.
31 to the area with his team, one day after the storm. Taylor was patrolling an area near the coast Sept. 9 when he saw “something large”
swimming in the swamp.
That “something” turned out to be Andre, a 500-pound California Sea Lion, normally housed 15 miles east at the Marine Life Oceanarium in
Gulfport. The Oceanarium was destroyed during the storm and many of the animals lost.
Although most of Taylor’s team members had returned home the previous day, the self-proclaimed animal lover had stayed behind to tend to animals displaced by the hurricane.
“I volunteered to stay on my own time, start feeding the animals,” Taylor said. “I was doing that normally while we were out on patrol, feeding stray dogs, goats, horses, ducks, you name it. They’re all looking for a home that’s not there anymore.”
After spotting the animal, Taylor alerted local authorities and waved down a patrol from the Middletown, Ohio-based 324th Military Police
Company, who reported the incident to their battalion headquarters.
“I definitely never expected to see that,” Taylor said. “Who would have thought you’d come out here in the middle of a Mississippi swamp and find a sea lion?”
An official from the 437th Military Police Battalion dispatched 324th MP Company 1st Sgt. Manny Perez and three other Soldiers to the scene
to gather more information.
As word of the rescue effort spread, other relief workers in the area responded to offer help.
“When we got there we saw a bunch of sheriffs,” Perez said. “The first responders had already contacted animal control, so I just sent two of my Soldiers out to get some pictures and we headed back.”
Six civilian agencies from three states aided in the rescue, including the Hancock County (Miss.) Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Tallahassee (Fla.) Relief Aid Response Team and the Rowan County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Office, Rowan County Rescue Squad and Salisbury (N.C.) Fire Department.
Oceanarium personnel arrived and identified the sea lion as Andre, one of two sea lions still unaccounted for following the hurricane that
destroyed the Gulfport facility. Andre is the cub of one of several sea lions used in the making the 1994 movie after which he is named. One
harbor seal is also still missing.
In preparation for the hurricane, eight of the facility’s seals and sea lions were moved into a trailer in front of the home of Tim Hoffland, the Oceanarium’s director of training, to ride out the storm. Unfortunately, there was no room for the others, said Connie Chevis, a veterinarian for the Oceanarium.
“I have no idea how he got here,” Chevis said. “I am concerned. The longer he’s out there, the more critical it becomes because he’s in fresh water and he’s a salt-water animal. He needs the salt and it’s been 12 days (at the time of the rescue) since he’s eaten.”
Oceanarium and relief workers quickly put together a rescue plan. First, they would use a small chainsaw to cut a section from a small rowboat to fit the animal’s crate. Then, they would tow the boat out to Andre with the “Argo” amphibious all-terrain vehicle brought by the Rowan County Rescue Squad.
Andre’s primary trainer, Marci Romagnoli, would lead the retrieval effort.
“We’re hoping that he’ll go voluntarily into the crate,” Chevis said. “If he does not, we’ll have to see how we can herd him in.”
Andre responded almost immediately to Romagnoli, who waded through the waist-high water to reach him. After calling his name several times and tossing him some fish, Andre followed his trainer to the crate and slid in.
Rescuers and spectators let out a loud cheer, raised their hands triumphantly in the air and exchanged “high-fives.”
Since the storm, the Oceanarium team has recovered all but two of the facility’s 27 seals and sea lions—the farthest was 30 miles east of the facility. They are still holding out hope to find the two remaining animals—“Bart,” a California Sea Lion and “Cody,” a harbor seal.
“We lost five,” said Romagnoli in a hushed voice. “It’s devastating. It’s like they’re your children. I can’t even think about them without getting upset. I keep remembering their faces.”
Andre was given a police escort to Hoffland’s home on the first leg of his journey to a new home in Memphis, Tenn. He was given a full check-up and is expected to fully recover, said an Oceanarium spokesperson.
Spectators applauded as the seven-vehicle convoy pulled away.
One relief worker from the Salisbury Fire Department explained that his team had been doing body recovery that morning, then responded to a fully involved house fire. He welcomed the opportunity to aid in the rescue effort, he said.
“This is the first time I’ve seen people smiling in over a week,” he said with a laugh. “I guess you can call us SEAL Team 1 now.”