Haulout – Floating Platform for Seal Pups

Haulout - Floating Platform for Seal Pups

Haulout is an inexpensive, easy to make, use, and clean system to aid in seal recovery at the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre as well as other aquatic mammal rehabilitation centres. It is made almost entirely of recycled materials that can continue to be recycled when it is time to replace them.

The haul is made up of machine cut pieces of HDPE plastic that can be assembled into a floating platform which can be expanded for larger seals. The seals can use this platform to rest out of the water as well as warm up. This is an activity that seals often do in the wild that is difficult to facilitate in quarantine tanks such as those at the MMR. By giving the seal pups a place to haul out while in quarantine, we can help them learn to swim and get stronger at an earlier age.

As the seal pups grow, the haul can be expanded to accommodate their larger size and be added to larger tanks while giving the seals a deeper pool to swim in. The hauls can float freely or be attached to the tanks with special suction cup hooks, or with rope.