Marine Mammal Center News

Four dead gray whales washed ashore on San Francisco Bay area beaches in nine days, with experts announcing that two of the giant aquatic mammals died from ship strikes and an investigation is ongoing Saturday on the other two.Biologists with the non-profit Marine Mammal Center in California said in a release Saturday that two dead whales washed ashore in the Bay area on Thursday, joining two more that were discovered dead in area beaches since March 31.Of the four animals, two died from blunt force trauma from ship strikes…

The Coast Guard worked with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to transport a baby orphaned Stellar Sea Lion from Seattle to Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, where it will be in the care of staff members from The Marine Mammal Center. At approximately 11:30 a.m., a Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento aircrew along with members from TMMC arrived in Seattle from Sacramento to pick up the pup named Leo. Last month, NOAA contacted the Coast Guard to request assistance with a transfer of the pup, which was found stranded live in Ocean Shores, Wash. “Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations responded and picked up the pup for a health assessment and determined rehabilitation was necessary…

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) of the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is offering a reward for information regarding an adult female California Sea Lion found Nov. 6 in Moro Bay, Calif. shot in the neck with a crossbow arrow. NOAA Fisheries enforcement officers are seeking information about the shooting incident, which is a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and will pay $1,000 for information that leads to a prosecution and conviction in this case. “It is illegal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to harass or feed marine mammals in the wild,” said Special Agent Roy Torres, NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement - Southwest Division.