The alaska sealife center (aslc) in seward, AK is the only facility permitted to rehabilitate walruses and northern sea otters in alaska

This federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service, awarded under the Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance program (CFDA 15.683), provides $200,404 to the Alaska Sealife Center (ASLC) in Seward, Alaska. The award supports the ASLC's comprehensive efforts in marine mammal rescue, rehabilitation, research, and conservation, with a focus on walruses and northern sea otters. Key activities include admitting and assessing stranded marine animals, gathering health data to monitor regional populations, operating a 24/7 wildlife hotline, and maintaining readiness to respond to oil spills affecting these species. The ASLC also provides training to fellow professionals and the public through internships, stranding response workshops, and educational programs. This grant enables the ASLC to retain specialized staff and resources to ensure a continued capability to support Alaska's marine ecosystem and coastal communities.

Since 1998, the aslc has been an integral asset to help monitor how the changing ocean environment is affecting these animals and people who depend on them for subsistence. Through this grant proposal, the aslc is requesting assistance in maintaining the following programs by supporting staff salaries, travel, supplies and health monitoring for patients, and supporting housing and per diem for interns. The wildlife response department admits stranded live marine animals collecting data on their health and reasons for stranding, such as harmful algal blooms, boat strikes and entanglement or general malnourishment due to lack of resources or maternal care. The data collected from these individuals can be an indication of what is happening to the general populations in the regions they live, such as otters from the aleutian islands or walruses from the bering sea. In addition, since the creation of the oiled wildlife response team in 2012, the aslc has been a state-wide resource for responding to wildlife affected by oil spills. The aslc maintains partnerships with all the major organizations that would be responsible to respond to oiled wildlife and husbandry staff are trained in hazwoper 24, which is required certification for people who would respond to a spill. We have remodeled conex shipping containers to create mobile response units which house a veterinary hospital, food preparation, a bunkhouse, andanimal care areas. We also have large pools, smaller fish totes, and water pumps, all of which can be transported via truck or barge and assembled to become a remote cleaning and rehabilitation station on site within 24-48 hours of the call to action. Our staff possess unique, hands on experience with walrus and sea otters and understand the equipment needed to support them. We maintain our proficiency through our experiences with admitted patients and responding to field calls. The aslc has a long history of training fellow professionals andpartners to learn these skills and gain experience. By retaining animal care staff year round, we are able to remain at the ready to take the lead if an oil spill affects northern sea otters or walruses. This level of expertise allows US to educate others. We mentor interns for the summer season preparing the next generation of wildlife professionals. We host a live animal stranding camp where two to four veterinary professionals and biologists from remote areas in alaska come to seward for a week to experience hands-on training about assessing, capturing, triaging and shipping live marine mammals. The group is kept small so everyone has opportunities to work with the animals and staff. The wildlife response department also helps teach oil industry partners in larger workshops about safety around animals, capture, and handling techniques as well as participating in drills. In 2025 we hope to host a drill where we deploy our mobilehospital, support units and pool.not only does the aslc promote professional collaboration to understand ocean ecosystems, IT also fosters stewardship through its education programs. Wildlife response staff man a 24 hour 7 days a week hotline where the public calls in concerns about marine wildlife, which often results in an action to collect data from a carcass or TRY to assist a debilitated animal. They also work closely with the education and media departments to produce quality programs on social media, virtual classrooms, and in-person presentations to educate and inspire people of all ages about conservation and the oceans. Thanks to funding from the USFWS prescott grant, the aslc has been able to provide these services and hopes to continue to do so in the coming years.