The Marine Mammal Center, just north of us in Marin County, rescues, rehabilitates and then releases between five hundred and a thousand orphaned and injured seals, sea lions, otters and other marine mammals every year. Yesterday, we got to witness 8 sea lions being released back into the wild (there were 9 ready to go back to the sea, but apparently one managed to release himself before we got to the beach; nice!) The eight were released in two groups, and when the first carrier was opened, the sea lion came out, sniffed the air, and then walked over to the other carriers, waiting for the rest of the group before they all headed down to the water together.