For the 2025-2026 prescott, we have the following major goals: 1) to provide comprehensive response to all dead and live marine mammals in our stranding area, emphasizing timely and complete…

Portland State University received a $133,306 Project Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Marine Mammal Data Program (CFDA 11.439), effective January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. The award supports comprehensive marine mammal stranding response operations in the Prescott stranding area. Key deliverables include timely diagnostic sampling and histopathological analysis of deceased Code 2 and early Code 3 cetaceans and pinnipeds in collaboration with Oregon State University's Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Northwest Zoopath, and the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. The project also emphasizes forensic analysis of Code 2, 3, and 4 animals to document disease and human interaction impacts.

Additional project activities include continued monitoring and documentation of live and dead entangled pinnipeds within the stranding area, contributing to regional databases for tagged and marked resight tracking of rehabilitated pinnipeds. The award maintains a significant emphasis on educational and outreach activities to support marine mammal conservation and stranding network capacity. As a core component of NOAA's discretionary funding for stranding network operations, this award directly supports the National Marine Fisheries Service's mission to collect and analyze information on marine mammals in U.S. waters and protect marine mammal health and conservation.

For the 2025-2026 prescott, we have the following major goals: 1) to provide comprehensive response to all dead and live marine mammals in our stranding area, emphasizing timely and complete diagnostic sampling of code 2 and early code 3 dead cetaceans and pinnipeds for histopathology and working closely with oregon state universitys oregon veterinary diagnostic laboratory (corvallis, or), northwest zoopath (monroe, WA) and the washington animal disease diagnostic laboratory (pullman, WA), with forensic analysis on all code 2, 3 and 4 animals to document disease and human interaction; 2) continue to report and document live and dead entangled pinnipeds in our area, contributing to the database for tagged and marked resight of rehabilitated pinnipeds; and 3) continue our emphasis on educational/outreach activities.