Prescott funding would make up the deficit in the annual budget for marine mammal rescue, rehabilitation, and public education

The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a $124,107 Project Grant from the Marine Mammal Data Program (CFDA 11.439) to the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center, doing business as The Marine Mammal Center, a non-profit veterinary hospital in Crescent City, CA. The grant funding will support the Center's critical operations to rescue, rehabilitate, and collect data on stranded marine mammals along the Northern California coastline. Specifically, the grant will maintain current staffing levels to increase operational efficiency, purchase necessary rehabilitation supplies, enable staff and volunteers to attend NOAA training conferences, and conduct public outreach and education on appropriate responses to encountering distressed marine mammals. This annual Project Grant has enabled the Center to provide these vital services to the region since 2019, with past funding amounts ranging from $106,667 to $261,006 per year.

Fundings will help to maintain the level of staffing that has increased the efficiency of daily operations and would make IT possible to purchase supplies that would not otherwise be within our budget. Additionally, prescott funds would give staff and volunteers the opportunity to participate in the regional stranding network conference and whale entanglement training as well as pay for public relations and outreach to educate the public on what to do, and not do, when they encounter marine mammals in distress.