Incident Response to Live Marine Animal

Strandings

An overview of training and challenges

Jennifer Dittmar

Federal Protection

•All marine mammals are federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972

•All sea turtles are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973

– Many large whales as well

What is a Stranding?

• When a MM or ST:

Northeast Region Stranding Network

Stranding Response in Delmarva

Common Mid-Atlantic Species

• Historically • Current Trend

Seals in Delmarva

How do we respond?

VolunteersBaltimore – rehabEastern Shore –

responsePartners

Various response and rehab partners

Incident Response Training

Incident Response Planning“You gotta have a plan…”

Photo credit:http://www.newsplink.com/wpcontent/uploads/2009/03/exxon_valdez.jpg

Incident Response PlanningA comparison of scenarios

Other Factors to Consider

Rehab

“No other zoo can afford my medical care! And I am not going HMO!”

A Lesson From Melman…

Release

Post-Release Monitoring