This summer has been full of response, rehab, research and community outreach activities. Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve been up to over the past few months.

Pups Return Home!

The past few months have been filled offering specialized care to pups in our center in addition to responding to strandings, including multiple large whales, porpoises and dolphins across our response region. Meet some of the pups that we’ve admitted for compassionate care and released already.

56- From Pine Point Beach in Scarborough. She had to be rescued at just a few days old due to obvious signs of maternal separation. At admit, she still had her umbilicus, and weighed half of what healthy pups her age should have weighed. During the 3 months of care she received, she was tube-fed formula until around 3 weeks of age, and then taught how to eat fish. Once big and strong enough, she was released back to the ocean!

57- Rescued from South Portland, Maine, this abandoned pup sadly experienced harmful interactions with well-meaning people and their dogs as she waited for her mom’s return. As a result, she was brought in for care as the level of human activity would prevent reuniting with her mom. While growing up in a rehab setting is far from ideal for a wild animal, we were able to teach her the skills she needs to survive in the wild where she belongs, and she was returned to the ocean a strong and independent seal!

61- Rescued from Scarborough, Maine at 1 week old. In every situation possible we give stable pups the chance to reunite with their mom and remain in the wild, using rehab as a last resort. Unfortunately, when we evaluated this pup, it was clear she had been abandoned and would not survive without help, so she was immediately collected. While we are sad she had to come into our center, we are grateful to have helped her get back where she belongs!

COA- Rescued by Allied Whale in Downeast Maine, this pup is nothing short of a fighter- she overcame significant odds- from struggling to maintain her reserves and needing extra treatments in the middle of the night by our team for nearly 3 weeks, to fighting an infection, there were times we thought she wouldn’t make it to release. She didn’t give up so we didn’t either, and she got to go home!

96- Collected from Biddeford after the reporting party observed that she was lethargic and non-reactive. After an assessment by our trained volunteers it was determined she was in need of medical attention. After a few months of care this feisty girl returned to the wild.

Upon opening her kennel doors she didn’t waste any time making her way back to the ocean a much healthier seal than she was only a short time ago.

Hoping to attend a release? Sign up for our email list and follow us on social media to be notified when we host public releases.

Coastal Storms Update

Coastal storm season has officially begun in Maine. What does this mean for our work? Recently, Hurricane Ernesto brought heavy surf to our shore even though the storm was a distance from the coast. This resulted in a small spike in live, sick and injured seals coming ashore to escape the storm. And, the reprieve we thought we’d see from releasing the five seals described above didn’t come as we immediately admitted five more in need of care.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting an “above-normal 2024 Atlantic hurricane season”, driven by above-average ocean temperatures, along with other factors. As a result we are preparing for a busy fall responding to live and deceased marine mammals impacted by the storms.

We will be relying on your reports and support to ensure live animals receive the help they need. From relocating displaced seals to safe areas to ensuring exhausted animals on shore are able to rest without disturbance from the public, and that sick and injured seals in need of help have a place to go. All of our responses allow us to monitor stranding trends and collect data from both live and deceased animals to document how changing weather and environments are impacting these populations.

Above: a young harbor seal that stranded recently and sought refuge from the high surf on a beach in southern Maine. His before rescue and after starting care photos speak for themselves.

Recent Whale Strandings

You may have seen several recent headlines about whale strandings in Maine. We generally respond to more strandings during the summer months and this year has been no different in that regard, though we are seeing a slight uptick in cases. Most species that we’ve responded to recently are currently experiencing an Unusual Mortality Event, which you can learn more about here.

In all of these cases MMoME’s role is always to objectively collect information to better understand the life, passing, and conservation of whales in the Gulf of Maine. Here’s a bit more about some of our recent reports.

Close encounters! Some whales reported to our hotline this summer are not for stranded individuals, but simply healthy whales feeding close to shore. In these cases the whales are following their food and attracting a lot of attention while they feed, requiring teams onsite to ensure the safety of whales and people.

Other whales were unfortunately sick, injured, or deceased when reported. For viable necropsy cases our team coordinates the complicated process of securing the animal and/or towing to shore, removing from the water, and logistical challenges surrounding transporting the animal to an approved necropsy site. In cases where we are not able to conduct a full necropsy we collect valuable data to learn as much as we can.

This humpback whale named Chunk, a well-known adult female, unfortunately passed off Maine’s coast earlier this summer. This year logo gear for our 5K is in honor of Chunk.

When deceased whales are floating offshore we conduct at-sea sampling to the best of our ability and in some cases, like this minke whale, we affix a tracking tag to monitor its movements and facilitate retrieval of the carcass and valuable data once it washes ashore.

One method we use to deal with carcasses once on land is to compost them. We often get questions about why we do this instead of allowing them to further contribute to the ocean ecosystem.

Some carcasses do remain out to sea, and only a select few are removed and transported for compost. Many factors and years of experience inform how we respond to large whales. Some of these include:
-If a navigational hazard exists
-If there is a risk to nearby fisheries and public areas
-The significant cost and time to tow carcasses to sea and/or submerge carcasses offshore, particularly because we’ve learned whales often re-strand in another location.