Baitball wasn’t in a hurry to get back into the water. Who could blame her? Before she entered the hospital in June, something or someone—perhaps a shark—had punctured her tail flipper. She had a nasty lung infection and was rapidly losing weight instead of packing on pounds like elephant seal pups are supposed to do.
A team of volunteers had taken her to Chimney Rock, a quiet corner of the Point Reyes National Seashore and…