Be sure to write “Mortgage Reduction” on checks so that your generous donation is credited to the mortgage.  The elimination of this debt will support MMC’s ability to respond to animals in need and dedicate donations to medical supplies and the many other costs involved in our work.

Please do what you can now!  If you know anyone, including any foundations, that share your love of dolphins and whales, please encourage donations to support the Marine Mammal Conservancy.

Thank you for all that you do.

Marine Mammal Conservancy

After surviving numerous medical challenges, 300 was deemed non-releasable by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) based on established guidelines for release and input from independent marine mammal experts.  NMFS has placed her in the care of SeaWorld, where she will be reunited with 301, a calf that was rescued during the same stranding event.

The MMC staff would like to thank all of the volunteers, SeaWorld and our stranding network partners who have committed so much time and effort to make this rescue and rehabilitation possible.

As many of you know, we recently transferred our calf to Sea World.  The latest updates from the Sea World staff indicate that she is doing great in her new pool, spending lots of time swimming underwater and interacting with her staff.  The calf was also being introduced to a new pool mate. Check the Sea World Facebook page and website for more details on the pilot whale calf.

The last young pilot whale female in our care, Caroline (300) is making progress.  Her days are full of activities, including swimming, physical therapy, floating sessions as she regains her balance and buoyancy and electro-stimulation therapy to rebuild the muscles on the weak side of her curve.  Caroline has a great attitude and is doing very well behaviorally.  We continue to need volunteers 24/7 in 4 hour shifts.  If you’re interested in volunteering, please call the MMC volunteer line at 305-451-4774.

The calf was part of a group of 24 Pilot Whales that stranded on May 5th in Cudjoe Key, Florida. After rescue 301 showed continued improvement throughout the rehabilitation process. The calf was deemed non-releasable by the National Marine Fisheries Service based on established guidelines for release and input from independent marine mammal experts. Rehabilitation efforts with the last remaining Pilot Whale from the May 5th rescue continue at MMC in Key Largo, Florida.

We’re happy to report that things keep moving forward with 300 and 301. 300 continues with her upswing of improvement and she’s swimming more and more every day. Her c-curvature is about 30% better from where it started and is slowly working itself out. She’s eating up to about 39 pounds of fish per day. She’s starting to be more playful and behaviorally is doing very well.

301 is acting like a typical youngster. She has her good days and her bad days, but all in all is doing well. She gets regular visits with 300 which they both seem to enjoy. Things are continuing to progress but we still need volunteer help. Please sign up for a shift if you haven’t done so already. (305) 451-4774 Thanks again for your continued support!

Update June 24th, 2011

Great News!  301 is doing well and is swimming on her own.  She continues to improve and goes through physical therapy every day.  We are so pleased to see the progress she’s making.

300 is still in critical condition and is currently on antibiotics for a small infection.  She’s keeping active though and we try to get her swimming on her own for a bit each day.

Positive thinking produces positive results!  If you haven’t already, please sign up for a shift and come see these magnificent animals and help out with their rehab.  Thanks to all that have already given us so much support – without you we couldn’t do the work that we do.  Hope to see you all soon!

Update June 18th, 2011

Regrettably, we had to euthanize pilot whale 302 today due to kidney failure.  After doing everything humanly and scientifically possible, we felt we needed to do it since she was beginning to suffer.  It’s never easy when it comes to this, but we feel it was the best for 302 and the only option we had.

Our volunteers are essential to what we do and we truly appreciate each and every one of you.  We still need all the help we can get, and can’t express enough how grateful we are for all that you do.

Update June 11th, 2011

Our three whales are still with us.  R300 is still in critical condition and still fighting a tough case of pneumonia.  R302 is in guarded condition and we continue to work on her severe C-curvature problems.  R301 is in stable condition and is swimming on her own several hours each day.  We continue to operate here 24/7 and our focus is on getting them back in shape again.  Dolphins Plus and Sea World have been gracious enough to lend us a hand with personnel and supplies and are on site each day helping us with our medical procedures and physical therapy on the whales.  Volunteers continue to be an integral part of the rehab process here and we encourage the public to participate and give back to a world that gives us so much.  If you can spare a few hours and come help out, we would very much appreciate it!  Thanks to all who have given their time so generously already.

Update May 26th, 2011

Unfortunately, we had to euthanize one of our pilot whales on Wednesday.  Despite our best efforts, R303 continued to deteriorate past the point of no return and we made the decision to end her suffering.
Our other three girls are still very sick with one in stable condition (the small calf R301) one considered in guarded condition R-300 and one still considered in critical condition, R302.
They are making progress medically, but we still have a long way to go and we expect them to be with us over the next few months.  We have them swimming several times a day to rebuild their strength as well as a chance to stretch out unused muscles.
They still need our support to stay afloat so volunteers are still required around the clock.  Thank you for your support and help, please stay in touch and volunteer as often as you like.

The “voluntourism” initiative is being aided with specially priced $69 (plus tax) per night rooms for visitors who sign up as volunteers.

When the traveler completes at least one four-hour shift, MMC representative will award the traveler a voucher. The voucher is good for the traveler’s stay for up to five days Sunday night through Thursday night, and must be presented to the hotel in order to receive the special rate. The program remains in place as long as there are convalescing whales at MMC, which is likely to last two months and maybe longer.

The reduced-rate program is focused on weekdays, because that is when the need is the greatest for manpower. Visitors arriving in Key Largo for this volunteer effort are encouraged to sign up for multiple volunteer shifts.

As many as 20 volunteers are needed per four-hour shift and can assist with a wide range of activities at MMC, located at mile marker 102.1 bayside. Volunteers help with everything from actually being in the water to support the whales (a minimum age of 18 is required), to land-based activities such as answering phones. Shore duties can be assigned to teens under 18.

The following Key Largo hotels are part of the program.

• Bayside Inn Key Largo www.baysidekeylargo.com — 305-451-4450
• Bay Cove Motel www.baycovemotel.com — 305-451-1686
• Boatel www.keylargohouseboat.com — 305-766-0871
• Key West Inn www.supertelinns.com — 305-451-5081
• Marina del Mar www.marinadelmarkeylargo.com — 305-451-4107
• Bay Harbor Lodge www.bayharborkeylargo.com — 305-852-5695
• Coconut Bay Resort www.coconutbaykeylargo.com — 305-852-5695

The accommodations list is also available at www.fla-keys.com/volunteer and more properties may be added in the future.

Holiday blackout dates for the special rate include Sunday, July 3, and Sunday, Sept. 3. Advance reservations are required, and the lodging property must be advised that guests are planning to volunteer.

The three whales were transferred to MMC in in a temperatured-controlled Publix Super Markets semi-trailer several days after they survived a May 5th stranding off the Lower Keys.

To learn more about becoming a MMC volunteer, visit www.marinemammalconservancy.org or call 305-451-4774.

Click here to read one volunteer’s experience with the pilot whales.

The whale appears to have found something of interest at depth off the eastern tip of Cuba.  Recently, he has begun to increase the number of dives he is making to 600m-900m.  Overall, 70% of his dives are less than 50m deep, and about 5% of dives are to 200-400m, with very occasional dives of 1,000m-1,500m.  About a third of his dives are of 5 min-15 min duration, with a few dives to >40 min.

The whale continues to move slowly toward Windward Passage, between Cuba and Haiti.

June 19th, 2011

The whale has moved north from Great Inagua and is headed toward Turks and Caicos.

June 14th, 2011

Here are the latest tracking maps.

June 10th, 2011

The whale has taken a more southerly course.

June 9th, 2011

The pilot whale continues to the ESE.

June 8th, 2011

The whale continues to the ESE, well to the east of the Bahamas.

June 3rd, 2011

The whale continues to the ESE, moving through a region where the waters exceed 5,000 m depth.  As with the previous plots, this one includes the most recent 10 days.

May 31st, 2011

The whale is headed SE over very deep waters of the Atlantic.

May 30th, 2011

The whale is moving to the SE, away from the Bahamas.

May 22nd, 2011

Y-400 and Y-404 continue to remain together, and are now somewhere off the Blake Plateau (approximately 700 miles east of Charleston South Carolina) which is reasonable habitat for pilot whales. They have been making dives that are mostly less than 50 m deep, but some are to 100-200 m. Most dives are of 5-20 min duration, but occasional dives have been recorded as lasting more than 30 min but less than 40 min.

Click on the image to enlarge

Click on the image to enlarge

Courtesy of: Randall S. Wells, Ph.D.
Senior Conservation Scientist, Sarasota Dolphin Research Program Manager Chicago Zoological Society,
c/o Mote Marine Laboratory and The National Marine Fisheries Service

COED Magazine’s Morganette Nicole has advanced to the finals of Captain Morgan’s Bracket Master Challenge. If she wins the tournament, the Marine Mammal Conservancy will receive a donation of whale-like proportions ($7,250)! We need friends, family, and associates to keep voting on Spike.com and via text message as many times as you can every day until voting ends 6pm PT on Sunday, April 3rd! So, head to bracketmaster.spike.com, fill out your bracket, you can vote once a day, and don’t forget to vote for our girl, Nicole! You can also text NICOLE to 44686 as much as you can.

Entanglement from monofilament fishing line takes a tragic toll on all marine life.

21 January 2011, NOAA/NMFS assigned Capture Supervisor Steve McCulloch, Program Manager of Marine Mammal Research at Harbor Branch Oceanographic at FAU (HBOI) assembled and led multi-agency Intervention Team to locate and successfully disentangle a dolphin calf in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). The mother dolphin (MOMW) has been known to McCulloch and HBOI researchers since 1996, when he helped initiate photo-identification surveys in the IRL. (MONO) is her fourth calf.

“The mom/calf pair have an expansive 30-mile home range within the IRL so we relied on a decade of sighting history data to narrow down the primary search area” explains McCulloch. Still, it took the thirty-member team and six boats, two days to locate the dolphin pair. Once both dolphins were in shallow water and alone, McCulloch initiated the ‘take’, first encircling the dolphins in a 400 yard capture net, and deploying five ‘chase boats’ so that team members could respond immediately to secure and support the calf, while the mom was safely released and waited anxiously nearby.  Both dolphins could be heard whistling to one another during the entire process.

NMFS assigned ‘capture-lead’, McCulloch helps remove fishing gear, consisting of heavy monofilament line and weights, which was documented by HBOI and will be sent to NMFS laboratories in Pascagoula, MS for further analysis

HBOI/MMRC staff veterinarian Dr. Juli Goldstein and Dolphins Plus/MMC veterinarian Dr. Bob Stevens worked together to quickly evaluate, treat, tag and release the animal. Due to the extent and nature of injuries, minimal biological sampling was undertaken. Efforts were focused on the immediate need to remove all the fishing gear, which consisted of heavy monofilament line and weights. Once the primary objective was accomplished every effort was made to safely return the calf to her waiting mom as quickly as possible.

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic Universities Marine Mammal Research and Conservation Program wish to gratefully acknowledge the following organizations.

Dolphins Plus / Marine Mammal Conservancy
Georgia Aquarium Dolphin Conservation Field Station
Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute
National Marine Fisheries Service
Ocean Embassy / Wildlife International Network

Also participating, marine mammal specialists Captain Larry Fulford, Captain Jim Moyer, EMT Jim McCann, Richard Baptiste, Brandon Paquin and Kevin Shoemaker.

Dolphin Rescue-Intervention team members representing six organizations that specialize in marine mammal care, rehabilitation and protection

Dolphin populations and marine species worldwide are faced with increasing threats due to human interactions, disease and a variety of environmental stressors. Remember to make sure to properly dispose of all your monofilament fishing gear and teach others to do the same.

If you see any marine species in distress, please immediately notify the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-FWCC.

This intervention effort and many other important research and conservation initiatives receive essential funding from Florida’s Protect Wild Dolphins specialty license plate, which are available at your local tax collectors office http://www.protectwilddolphins.org/BUY.HTML

For more information on marine mammal health and stranding response efforts please visit the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources / National Marine Fisheries Service website at:

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/education/protectdolphins.htm