Feel your heart expand while learning a little bit about local sea life at the Marine Mammal Care Center. Visit this outdoor facility to watch the rehabilitation of seals and sea lions recovering from injuries, and see abandoned pups that were brought here as orphans. MMCC's mission is to nurse these wounded and sometimes helpless animals back to health while maintaining their wild and undomesticated natures. The goal is to release them back into their ocean habitat as soon as they're strong enough. Arrive at one of the scheduled feeding times to watch the animals at their cutest and most active. They swim, cuddle, eat and slide playfully across the wet pavement of their enclosures. Keep an eye on this facility's website to find out when you might witness an ocean release of healed animals ready to rejoin life in the wild. —Nikki Kreuzer

3601 S Gaffey St., San Pedro, 90731. (310) 548-5677, marinemammalcare.org.

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