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02/14/02
The Marine Environmental Research Institute
(MERI) hosted the first meeting of the Maine Regional Stranding
Network on January 28 at its newly opened Center for Marine
Studies in Blue Hill. MERI Director Dr. Susan D. Shaw chaired
the meeting of 20 participating scientists, veterinarians,
and field technicians from MERI, Allied Whale, College of
the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, the University of New England’s
Marine Science Center in Biddeford, and the Marine Animal
Lifeline (MAL), also in Biddeford. The purpose of the meeting
was to strengthen collaborative efforts among the four groups
to respond to distressed animals that strand annually along
the coast and, when possible, rehabilitate and release them
back to the wild. In Maine, the peak season for seal strandings
is late spring to early summer when female harbor seals haul
out on beaches to have their pups.
COA’s Allied Whale and MAL hold letters
of authorization from the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) to operate the stranding network. MAL and UNE’s
Marine Science Center in southern Maine are equipped to rehabilitate
sick or wounded animals. Located in the middle of the coast,
the MERI Center for Marine Studies offers temporary housing
and treatment for stranded seals before transporting them
to rehabilitation facilities to the south.
MERI also has a multi-year research project
underway, the US Atlantic Coast Seal Study, in which all of
the groups currently participate. In collaboration with the
NOAA/NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and with support
from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s
Toxics Monitoring Program, MERI is studying toxic pollutant
loads in US Atlantic coast seals.
During the day-long meeting, participants
discussed their current projects, exchanged ideas, and heard
from representatives of the National Marine Fisheries Service
and Maine Department of Marine Resources on the role of federal
and state authorities in the Stranding Network. Consensus
was reached among the members of the Maine Regional Stranding
Network about the importance of strengthening the Network;
improving communications; standardizing procedures for the
recovery, stabilization and preliminary diagnostics of stranded
marine mammals; increasing public education outreach; and
collaborating on tissue collection for scientific research.
“Seals and other marine mammals at
the top of the food chain are important indicators of the
health of the ocean environment and sentinel species for contaminant-related
effects in humans,” said Shaw. “From MERI’s
side, we will continue to do state-of-the art tissue banking
to look at contaminant loads and the health status of Gulf
of Maine seals, and in the months ahead we will be working
to maximize the information that can be gained about why these
animals become stranded, why they die, and what factors are
at work.” She added, “Many of you are contributing
valuable samples to this research…we appreciate your
help, we depend upon your knowledge and skills to get quality
tissues for the analysis.”
The four groups agreed to focus greater attention
on their special strengths, and discussed ways they might
work together in future to improve the effectiveness of their
respective efforts, including possible development of a hub
website and collaborative grants. Greg Jakush, President of
MAL, emphasized the need for more public outreach about “what
to do, who to call if people find a stranded marine mammal”
and said he would regularly update participants on MAL’s
“occupancy status” for rehabilitated animals.
Stine Brown, Director of UNE’s Marine Science Center,
and Keith Matassa, Rehabilitation Coordinator, stated that
they would have the capacity to handle “overflow”
animals, and offered their new state-of-the-art marine mammal
surgery unit as a resource for the groups. Sean Todd, Associate
of COA’s Allied Whale, encouraged a more collaborative
effort among the groups to respond to stranded cetaceans -
whales and porpoises - as well as seals. The Stranding Network’s
next meeting is scheduled for April.
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