To continue to operate and enhance the capabilities of the oregon marine mammal stranding network

Oregon State University received a $162,017 Project Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Marine Mammal Data Program (CFDA 11.439), effective December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026. The award supports continued operation and enhancement of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, which provides timely emergency response to marine mammal stranding events along the Oregon coast. The network conducts diagnostic examinations of deceased marine mammals to assess local population health status, collects and archives frozen marine mammal tissues for distribution to the scientific community (including the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank at the National Institute of Standards and Technology), and maintains active collaborations with outside researchers while fulfilling specimen requests through NOAA.

The award enables the network to sustain core operational functions including volunteer recruitment and training, organization of network meetings and workshops, follow-up coordination on tagged animal re-sightings, and expanded capacity to respond to live pinniped and large whale entanglement incidents. Additionally, the funding supports comprehensive public outreach and engagement through the stranding network website, media interviews, public educational talks, and direct communication with community members reporting stranding events. All data collection activities continue to feed into the Marine Mammal Health & Stranding Response Program National Database, supporting NOAA's broader marine mammal conservation and health surveillance objectives.

Expected accomplishments from this project include: continued timely response to marine mammal stranding events on the oregon coast; continued timely reporting of level a data to the marine mammal health & stranding response program national database; diagnostic findings of fresh dead marine mammals to yield important information on the health status of local marine mammal populations; continued collection and archiving of frozen marine mammal tissues to be shared with the scientific community (including with the national marine mammal tissue bank at the national institute of standards and technology laboratory in charleston, SC); continued recruiting and training of volunteers; continued organizing and hosting of network meetings and workshops; continued collaborations with outside researchers and fulfillment of specimen requests filed through NOAA; continued follow up on tag RE-sightings to interested agencies; continued and improved capacity to respond to live pinniped and large whale entanglements; and ongoing outreach efforts with the general public through public talks, media interviews, the stranding network website (https://MMI.oregonstate.EDU/ommsn), and one-on-one communication with hundreds of individual callers and passersby in response to stranding reports