The programs core activities include response, rehabilitation, and release of marine mammals; research; diagnostics; and outreach

Sea Research Foundation, Inc. (doing business as Mystic Aquarium) received a $173,869 Project Grant award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Marine Mammal Data Program (CFDA 11.439), effective September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026. The award supports core operations and staffing for the organization's Animal Rescue Program, which provides response, rehabilitation, and release services for marine mammals in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Specific deliverables include emergency response and disentanglement services for stranded marine mammals—addressing a documented increase in phocid (seal) entanglement cases, with 21 individual cases recorded on Block Island, Rhode Island from February to September 2024—as well as large whale stranding response, required reporting and recordkeeping, research and diagnostic services, and public outreach activities.

The project further seeks to enhance regional preparedness and coordination by uniting key stakeholders within the coverage area and the large whale stranding response network to share resources and best practices. These activities directly support NOAA's mission to protect and conserve marine mammals and the marine environment through strengthened data collection, improved documentation of human-interaction incidents, and expanded capacity within the regional stranding network infrastructure.

Funding for operations and staffing remains critical to ensure the programs ability to respond to sighted and stranded marine mammals, complete required reporting and recordkeeping, and provide rehabilitation services for our coverage area and within the region. Since 2018, mystic aquarium's animal rescue program has seen a notable rise in reported phocid entanglement cases through our emergency hotline. From february to september 2024, twenty-one individual entanglement cases were recorded on block island, RI, underscoring the importance of improving our documentation and disentanglement efforts for these human interaction incidents. Additionally, the animal rescue program responded to two live large whales and three deceased whales over the past year. This project seeks to unite key stakeholders to share ideas, enhance preparedness, and broaden resources within our coverage area and the large whale stranding response network. Support for this initiative is vital for the conservation, protection, and management of marine mammals and the ocean environment.