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Matti, Pablo, Apolo and Taite got a second chance at life yesterday morning. The four sea lions, once found throughout Orange County's coastline underweight and malnourished, were released back into the wild with a crowd cheering them on at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach. And by the looks of this video, the cute pinnipeds were sure thrilled to see the ocean again!
An exciting thing to see, for sure, but for the employees and volunteers at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, this was serious business as usual. The non-profit organization rescues and rehabilitates marine mammals, usually seeing about 200 of them a year. Once recovered, the animals are released.
Pacific has recently made headlines, most notably with their assistance in helping untangle rope around a wayward whale in Dana Point and rescuing Fiddler, the especially cute sea lion who made his way onto a Newport Beach roof in April.
