April 29, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
As of May 1, the New England Aquarium will no longer respond to stranded marine mammals in order to focus their efforts on sea turtle response given the increasing number of sea turtle strandings in our region. Going forward, NOAA will receive calls about stranded seals, dolphins, and whales from Rockport through Plymouth, MA.
Because the Aquarium will no longer be responding to stranded marine mammals, we are seeking new partners to join our Regional Marine Mammal Stranding Network to serve communities in this area and aid in our response. Network participants are volunteer organizations trained and federally authorized to respond to sick or injured dolphins, seals, and whales that strand along our shorelines. For more information and to learn how to become an authorized response organization, please contact Mendy Garron, NOAA Regional Marine Mammal Response Program Coordinator at 978-282-8478 or mendy.garron@noaa.gov. To report a stranded marine mammal, please call the NOAA Regional Marine Animal Hotline at 866-755-6622. For more information about our Marine Mammal Stranding Network, visit our website.