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| Stranding Response Team |
The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center’s mission is “to increase the public’s knowledge and appreciation of Virginia’s marine environment and inspire commitment to preserve its existence.” Much of this mission is carried out at the Virginia Aquarium site while other parts are carried out by conservation and research projects around the globe. Another important aspect of the Aquarium’s efforts is the Stranding Response Program that works to rescue stranded marine animals and return them to their natural habitat.
The Stranding Response Program’s mission is “to promote the conservation of marine animal species through stranding response, research, rehabilitation, and education. It is largely a volunteer-based group operating from the Aquarium’s Marine Animal Care Center in Virginia Beach. The program is supported by the Virginia Aquarium Foundation through donations from the community, and grant-making organizations.”
Marine animals are wonders to see because they spend most of their lives below the water’s surface, therefore, we rarely get to see these amazing creatures. However, the times that marine animals find their way into our world, on dry land, are the times they need the most help. Animals that are stranded on beaches due to injury, illness, or death are desperate for the care that the Stranding Response Team provides. They “work at the Aquarium's Stranding Center in Virginia Beach to rescue and rehabilitate live animals, collect data from dead specimens and support research on stranded marine animals found in Virginia.” Through their immeasurable passion and unyielding commitment they also “serve as environmental ambassadors, educating the public about these magnificent animals and their conservation needs.”
Most recently, according to a Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center news release, the Stranding Response Team released a rehabilitated harbor seal on Friday, January 28, at 11 a.m. and invited the public to come watch the event. The harbor seal was found “stranded on December 28, 2010, south of Little Island Fishing Pier in Sandbridge.” During the rescue, the harbor seal was given the name “Puddy” for two volunteers Peg and Buddy who initially monitored him on the beach. The two volunteers observed that “Puddy” was a “small seal (nearly 3 ft. long) thin (35 lbs.) and pale with shark bites on the left side of his body.” Joan Barns goes on to describe that “Puddy” was taken to the Aquarium’s Marine Animal Care Center the next day where staff administered fluids, antibiotics, topical treatment for his wounds and nutritional support.”
Happily, on the day of release, “Puddy” “has healed from his injuries, gained 13 lbs., and been cleared by the Aquarium’s veterinarian. “Puddy” was thereby released back into his natural marine habitat at First Landing State Park behind the Chesapeake Bay Visitors Center.
“Since the program's inception more than 17 years ago, the Aquarium’s Stranding Team has responded to more than 1500 marine mammals and over 2200 sea turtles. Averaging more than 200 per year, stranded animals have included harbor and harp seals, harbor porpoises, bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales, and loggerhead and Kemp's ridley sea turtles.”
The work of the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center as well as the Stranding Response Program is important to preserving both the marine animals and the marine habitat, so if you are ever in the Virginia Beach area, visit the Aquarium and see firsthand what conservation is striving to save.
*all details relating to “Puddy” courtesy of Joan Barns, January 26, 2011 News Release
*"Puddy" pictures courtesy of Stephen M. Katz, The Virginian-Pilot
