Excursion Marine mammal centre visit and exploring sausalito tour at San Francisco

Take the morning to meet sea lions at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. Board your coach and travel from the pier for your 45-minute guided tour of the Marine Mammal Center around the exhibits and viewing areas. Your guide is available to provide insight into the work of the Center and share stories about seal and sea lion "patients."

Enjoy a 30-minute private behind the scenes experience, which depending on conditions may be an opportunity to explore the Fish Kitchen or see the intensive care unit of the hospital. The Marine Mammal Center is guided and inspired by a shared vision of a healthy ocean for marine mammals and humans alike. The Center's mission is to advance global ocean conservation through marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, scientific research, and education.

The Marine Mammal Center leads the field in ocean conservation through marine mammal rescue, veterinary science, and education. Sick and injured animals are rescued, treated and rehabilitated at our state-of-the-art veterinary facilities where we care for our patients until they can be released back to their ocean home.

On your guided tour around the Center, the guide shares stories of patients treated at The Marine Mammal Center, describing the tried and true recipes volunteers use to nurse these animals back to health. Get the inside scoop on our innovative technologies utilized at The Marine Mammal Center and provide tips on how we can all play a part in protecting ocean life.

Behind-the-Scenes experiences vary based on weather and our patient care. Some days you will have the opportunity to explore our Fish Kitchen, while others we might highlight our intensive care unit of the hospital.

Sea-lions are pinnipeds, which means fin or flipper-footed and refers to the marine mammals that have front and rear flippers. This group includes seals, sea lions, and walruses. These animals live in the ocean but are able to come on land for long periods of time. Millions of years ago, the ancestors of pinnipeds lived on land. There are three families of pinnipeds: phocids (seals), otariids (sea lions) and odobenids (walruses).

California sea lions are known for their intelligence, playfulness, and noisy barking. Their color ranges from chocolate brown in males to a lighter, golden brown in females. Males reach 850 pounds (390 kg) and seven feet (2.1 m) in length. Females grow to 220 pounds (110 kg) and up to six feet (1.8 m) in length. The trained "seals" in zoos and aquariums are usually California sea lions.

After your time at the Marine Mammal Center, enjoy a refreshment after the tour and some free time to explore Sausalito. Return to the ship.

Note

Please note: On the behind the scenes part of the tour, depending on the number of injured Sea Lions and/or other Marine Mammals in the Center at the time, will determine what guests will see/experience on this tour.