Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Inc.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Inc. (doing business as Clearwater Marine Aquarium Inc.) is a Florida-based nonprofit tax-exempt organization that serves as a prime recipient of federal grant funding for marine mammal rescue, rehabilitation, research, and stranding-response operations. The organization does not hold federal contracts and operates entirely within the federal grant space, competing as a primary recipient on NOAA and Fish and Wildlife Service marine mammal assistance programs.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium operates a federally recognized rehabilitation network for marine mammals — principally Florida manatees and small cetaceans — with operational facilities in Clearwater, Florida and field capacity across the southeastern United States. The core federal mission centers on responding to live-stranded cetaceans and manatees, conducting rescue assessments, providing critical rehabilitation care, and monitoring post-release survival and habitat use through satellite tagging and field telemetry. The organization also supports scientific research on population health impacts during mortality events, conducts marine mammal necropsy and disease investigation, and operates public education programs focused on endangered species protection. Recent prime-grant work includes a $205 thousand Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance grant (CFDA 15.683) from the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 9 to collect health and habitat data on Florida manatees migrating to Georgia (awarded July 2024, completion June 2025); multiple NOAA project grants supporting cetacean rehabilitation facility operations, necropsy trailer upgrades, and community stranding-response training (including an August 2021 facility-enhancement grant and August 2021 training-formalization award); and DOI cooperative agreements for manatee monitoring and warm-water spring restoration at Salt and Silver Glen Springs (CFDA funding, October 2021 through September 2026). The organization also hosts the North Atlantic Right Whale Festival, an annual NOAA-funded public-education event in Fernandina Beach drawing over 12,000 attendees.

Customer concentration is high and stable across two primary federal agencies. NOAA (Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) accounts for 11 of 26 total awards; the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 9 Headquarters accounts for 8 awards. DOI Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4 holds 2 awards. Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters Financial Assistance Awards account for 5 recent sub-grant awards flowing through the State of Florida Division of Emergency Management for storm-damage recovery and equipment replacement at CMA facilities (February and January 2026). The organization operates entirely as a prime recipient on NOAA and DOI grant programs; it does not compete for contracts. Grant activity has remained steady at three awards per year from 2022 through 2024, with four awards in both 2025 and 2026. Combined dollars obligated across all 26 awards (prime and sub-recipient roles combined) total $2.7 million. Two awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing minimal recompete exposure.