In June, Brooke Schaefers traveled to Crescent City, Calif., for a three-month internship at Northcoast Marine Mammal Center where she rescued, rehabilitated and released sea lions and seals that had become stranded, sick or injured. Submitted photo

She heals sick sea lions by the seashore. It’s not a new tongue twister, but what Brooke Schaefers, 23, a 2017 graduate of Slippery Rock High School, did for her summer internship.

In June, Schaefers traveled to Crescent City, Calif., for a three-month internship at Northcoast Marine Mammal Center where she rescued, rehabilitated and released sea lions and seals that had become either stranded, sick or injured.

Schaefers, the daughter of Suzanne and Mark Schaefers of Butler, was fulfilling an internship component as she pursues a master’s degree in marine mammal science at the University of Miami.

“The differences between sea lions and seals is a sea lion has external ears, seals just have tiny little holes,” she said. “Sea lions can walk on their limbs, while seals just bounce along the ground because they can’t stand up on their four flippers.”

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