> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Wallerstein is savior of the sea - URL: https://www.smdp.com/wallerstein-is-savior-of-the-sea/ - Published: 2007-05-14T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T00:45:00.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import *COMMUNITY PROFILES PETER WALLERSTEIN Wallerstein on call to save animals* SANTA MONICA BEACH Conducting interviews and photo sessions with the ever so elusive Peter Wallerstein is no easy task. An hour before a 9 a.m. scheduled interview with the Daily Press on Wednesday, the forever animal lover had to cancel as he was called to an impromptu press conference at the Bird Center in San Pedro. Wallerstein’s presence was requested to present footage of a rescue he conducted the day before on Santa Monica Beach of a pregnant sea lion suffering from domoic acid. Caused by an algae bloom, domoic acid accumulates in fish at a high level and is eventually passed on to its predators, including sea lions.As a result of consuming the infected fish,sea lions often experience seizures as legions appear on their brain. The victim lying on Santa Monica Beach on Tuesday was suffering similar neurological effects from the domoic acid. Following the press conference, Wallerstein zooms back to his headquarters in an RV park on Dockweiler Beach, in time for a noon interview, but his ear close to a cell phone, which could ring at any time with another sea animal rescue call. Averaging six to eight calls a day, such is the life for the founder of the Whale Rescue Team, which has saved thousands of marine mammals up and down the Santa Monica Bay over the past 22 years. Born and raised in Norwalk, Conn., Wallerstein left his home immediately after high school, spending years soul searching as he traveled the world, living in a small log cabin in an isolated area of the mountains of New Hampshire, creating his own habitat in the islands of the West Indies and the Caribbean before packing his bags and heading out to California. “I wanted to lead a meaningful life,” said Wallerstein, 55, of Playa del Rey. “I didn’t want to just settle for a job I would be bored with after 20 to 30 years and feel like I missed out on something in my life.” If it’s one thing Wallerstein was certain, it was his love for nature,animals and respect for all life.He became an ethical vegetarian 30 years ago,which led to becoming a vegan 25 years ago. One of his first friends in California would steer Wallerstein toward an area that would come to consume his life for the next two decades — marine life protection. It was the late 1970s and Wallerstein had just met Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an organization advocating for marine life protection and conservation and demanding the shut down of illegal whaling. Wallerstein was offered the position of the pacific director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and spent the next few years at sea, confronting illegal whaling ships they would come across. After a campaign in the Bering Sea, Wallerstein was at home watching a news program about whales drowning in fishing nets. Watching the newscast, Wallerstein automatically assumed the whales were dying in the Bering Sea. “I was shocked that it was in our own neighborhood in Point Dume and Palos Verdes,” Wallerstein said. “There wasn’t a coordinated effort to go out and save them.” From the newscast, the Whale Rescue Team was born. Unfortunately, because there wasn’t a coordinated effort to save these whales in the mid 1980s, there were no books written about how to save the marine mammals. All Wallerstein had was some knowledge he gained through his years with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and a determination to learn along the way. Equipped with scuba gear and an 18-foot inflatable boat, Wallerstein and a crew of two assistants received the Whale Rescue Team’s first call in 1985\. A mother and baby whale had gotten caught in a fishing net off Palos Verdes and were rapidly approaching death as they were struggling coming up for air. The crew was able to cut the mother free, but was having trouble freeing the baby whale as the net was wrapped around it’s tail. Every time the baby whale attempted to come up for air, the net would drag it back down. The mother then dove underneath the boat. “There are only two species of whales that have turned on their attackers — a sperm whale and a California gray whale,” Wallerstein said. “I didn’t know what this whale mom was going to do.” It was then when the mother popped up on the other side of the boat, lifting her baby out of the water. Realizing what the mother was doing, the crew started cutting the net as fast as they could. The mother whale ended up making the same motion, diving down and up to pull her baby out of water, never touching the boat, before the crew was able to free the whale. The two eventually just swam away. “That was my sign,” Wallerstein said. “I might be a little slow, but not slow enough to recognize this is what I might be good at.” The system was flawed before the Whale Rescue Team came along, Wallerstein believes. Responsibility for saving these marine animals lay in the hands of local animal control and even parking enforcement officers who had no training,he said. For years Wallerstein fought with the federal government for permission to save the marine mammals himself before he discovered a loophole that left that decision in the hands of the local municipalities. The city of Santa Monica became the first city to contract with the Whale Rescue Team for only $1 a year, though Wallerstein jokes that the city has not fulfilled its obligation and actually owes him about $10. Today, Wallerstein is contracted by cities from Topanga down to Long Beach. Charging a nominal $1, much of Wallerstein’s time is also spent fundraising to continue operations. Last year, he rescued 264 marine animals during 198 calls for assistance. This year, he has so far rescued 129 animals — 78 sea lions, 39 elephant seals, six harbor seals, five dolphins and one whale. Rescued animals are usually sent to the Marine Care Center in San Pedro. From there, Wallerstein said he never sees the animals again, his own personal decision not to get attached. Wallerstein is on call 24/7, having established a 24 hour hotline where comes come in from local agencies, lifeguards, animal control and even citizens. Some of the calls are false alarms — citizens thinking an animal is suffering when it’s just lying on the beach. He received a tip about a sea lion in San Pedro during the interview on Wednesday. After assessing the situation over the phone, Wallerstein instructs the person not to touch the sea lion, saying its bite is 10 times greater than a Doberman. Wallerstein has only been bitten once in the past 22 years. His one case of misfortune caused by a pregnant sea lion, his 30th rescue during a two week period a few years ago. “I just turned 55 years old and I’m still wrestling sea lions,” Wallerstein said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/051407-01_01.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/051407-01_02.jpg) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051407.pdf?ref=smdp.com)