Marine mammals of maine responds to stranded marine mammals in mid-coast and southern maine and provides triage and rehabilitation services for pinnipeds in need of short- and long-term care that…

The Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a $149,825 Project Grant to Marine Mammals of Maine, a non-profit organization, to support marine mammal stranding response, rehabilitation, and outreach services in mid-coast and southern Maine. This funding is provided through NOAA's Marine Mammal Data Program (CFDA 11.439), which supports state agencies in collecting and analyzing information on marine mammals interacting with state-managed fisheries and other resources.

Marine Mammals of Maine will use this grant to triage and rehabilitate stranded pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) in the Northeast U.S., a region that has experienced several unusual mortality events attributed to infectious disease over the past two decades. The grant will enable the organization to enhance its response capacity, animal care, and biological sample collection to monitor for emerging diseases like highly pathogenic avian influenza, which was recently detected in marine mammals in the U.S. for the first time. Additionally, Marine Mammals of Maine will leverage this funding to address growing human-wildlife conflicts stemming from increases in seal populations along the Maine coast through public outreach programs.

Marine mammals of maine responds to stranded marine mammals in mid-coast and southern maine and provides triage and rehabilitation services for pinnipeds in need of short- and long-term care that strand throughout the northeast US. This is a region that has experienced several pinniped umes attributed to infectious disease over the past two decades, making IT a priority area for improving capacity for response, necropsy, animal care, and biological sample collection to continue monitoring for infectious disease. The most recent UME in 2022 involved highly pathogenic avian influenza, the first time this strain with greater potential for human health risk has been detected in marine mammals in the US. Concurrently, over the past two decades, our region has faced growing human-wildlife conflict in response to increases in seal populations. These emerging issues pose new challenges for managing public expectations, which our organization aims to address through outreach programs that engag