BARNSTABLE – NOAA Fisheries recently awarded $2.75 million in grants to help with the rescue of stranded marine mammals and local agencies were recipients.
The National Marine Life Center in Bourne received over $120,000 for the rehabilitation of seals, enhancing data collection and preparedness for emergency events and the continuation of the marine mammal morphological parasite laboratory.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) headquartered in Yarmouth Port received over $97,000 to study the interaction between humans and seals.
The grants were part of the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program which provides funding to organizations, academic institutions and state agencies that are members of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
A major focus for the funding received by IFAW will go towards entanglements.
“We do see a portion of seals that are carrying entanglements and things like fishing gear,” said IFAW Emergency Relief Officer and Stranding Coordinator Brian Sharp. “[We’ll be] trying to be able to figure out ways to deal with that and try to collect data as well as rescuing those animals.”
Sharp said that many people don’t realize how many seals are stranded on the Cape.
“Cape Cod is one of the busiest stranding networks in the US,” he said. “Most [of the] time what people hear about is dolphins that strand, but over half our work is dealing with seals that strand.”
The grant funding will be significant for the organization and cover two years of work.
“It’s not only going to be able to be applied here on Cape Cod where we respond to marine mammal strandings,” Sharp said. “But it’s something we can use with partners at other agencies throughout the northeast region.”
Sharp said that seal strandings are more prevalent in the spring, summer and fall, but in the winter the time, the organization sees the majority of dolphin strandings.
Sharp said that people who find stranded mammals should always report the sighting to the IFAW hotline at 508-743-9548.
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