Riverhead Foundation For Marine Research

Riverhead Foundation For Marine Research And Preservation, a New York-based nonprofit tax-exempt organization, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering marine mammal stranding response, rescue, rehabilitation, and conservation data services to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the Marine Mammal Data Program (CFDA 11.439). The foundation acts as both a prime grant recipient and a sub-recipient on complementary marine conservation awards, with 91% of its recent federal activity in the prime role.

Riverhead's customer footprint is consolidated on a single federal agency. The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration accounts for 22 awards (96% of total recent awards) and the entirety of the foundation's combined potential value. The foundation's work centers on data collection, marine mammal triage and treatment, operational response infrastructure, staff and volunteer professional development, and human-interaction-focused education and outreach. Representative prime grant work includes a $103,330 award from NOAA for the period September 2025 through August 2026 supporting stranding response operations, live animal treatment, and capacity-building activities with deliverables including improved care protocols and specialized response gear kits; a $119,542 award for the period through August 2023 funding live animal triage, treatment, mass stranding response, and entanglement case management for pinnipeds and small cetaceans in New York State waters; and a $106,176 award for the period through August 2022 supporting operational stranding response and community outreach and education. Riverhead also acts as sub-recipient on complementary marine conservation awards from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (sea turtle research in New York, awarded April 2026) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (sea turtle response, rescue, and rehabilitation enhancement for New York, awarded July 2025).

Activity remains sparse and episodic — one to two awards per year in the recent period — with a single award completing in the next twenty-four months. The combined potential value across all awards is modest at $20 thousand, though the foundation's actual obligated dollars total $2.2 million across the portfolio, indicating that most award potential values in the source reflect narrow snapshots of multi-year grant periods. Riverhead operates as the sole responding organization for marine mammal strandings in New York State and delivers services exclusively within New York waters and the broader Northeast marine conservation region.