The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation (formerly the Okeanos Ocean Research Foundation), in Riverhead, New York, handles the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of marine mammals and sea turtles stranded along the maritime coast of New York State. The facility functions as both a hospital for marine wildlife and an educational center for the general public. In addition to responding to the stranding of live animals, the Foundation responds to the washing up of dead animals which are then necropsied to both gain a better understanding of their anatomy and physiology and to determine the cause of death. The Foundation is primarily involved in animal care, however, data is also collected for the purpose of research. It relies heavily on the efforts of volunteers, and non-paid interns, to reach its goals, and it provides the ideal working environment for anyone seeking to obtain exotic animal care experience.

After reading the article "The Doctor is Out" (Gorman, 1994), which described the efforts of veterinarian William Karesh and the Field Veterinary Program of the New York Zoological Society/The Wildlife Conservation Society, a strong childhood desire to work with wildlife, as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), was renewed. Extensive animal care experience is a prerequisite, however, for acceptance into any veterinary medical program. Research was conducted into volunteering at various local wildlife rehabilitation organizations (i.e. Volunteers for Wildlife), as well as part-time work at local zoos and aquariums, in order to obtain such experience.

While working in Riverhead, New York at a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) long range radar facility, The Okeanos Ocean Research Foundation (now known as The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation) was encountered. Their Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Operation, which handles the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of marine wildlife that have become stranded along the maritime coast of New York State, sparked a great amount of interest. A volunteer application was completed and, within less than a week, work on the night shift with a stranded common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), being monitored 24 hours per day 7 days per week, was initiated. Since the duties being performed were free of charge and the facility was engaged in wildlife conservation, clearly an aspect of the environmental field, the volunteer work was approved of as an internship for the Graduate Program in Environment Studies at Long Island University's C.W. Post Campus. The following is an account of the experiences at the Foundation, on both the Dolphin Watch and Seal/Stranding Team, and the associated information obtained.

Each time the dolphin made a noise (i.e. whistles, clicks, splashes), the time of the noise was recorded and the sound of the noise was thoroughly described. Any changes to the ordinary swimming and breathing behavior were recorded, such as spy hopping and breaching. The observations were recorded on a pad of lined yellow paper using a ball point pen.

Water testing was done on a daily basis and consisted of obtaining water from both the open and closed systems. The open system included the outdoor cetacean and seal tanks as well as the majority of the indoor seal tanks in the back of the house. The open system was fed by water pumped from the Peconic River into the facility. Both the influent and effluent water of the open system was tested. The turtle room tanks made up one independent closed system as did each seal display tank in the back of the house. Testing was performed using real-time instruments only. Parameters, including temperature, pH, and salinity, were recorded on a water quality record form using a ball point pen. Instruments were not often calibrated so an effort was made to regularly perform a calibration check using the abundant calibration fluids stored in the hazardous materials storage cabinet in the treatment room.

The temperature of the seal room, and the outside temperature, were taken three times daily at the beginning of each four hour work shift. The readings were recorded on the seal room temperature chart, hanging on the wall in the back of the house, using a ball point pen.

During a physical examination, the animal's weight, length, sex, respiration, heart rate, body temperature, behavior, and the condition of its coat, teeth, eyes, ears, nose and mouth were recorded on a marine mammal physical exam form using a ball point pen.

Each seal had its own feeding chart which included its tank #, arrival date, species, sex, age, New York State Stranding ID #, and weight. The chart also included enough space to document three days worth of feeding and associated comments (i.e. behavior during feeding). A new chart was therefore begun every three days. Each seal's charts were clipped together on dedicated clip boards hanging in the feeding area. They were filled out with a ball point pen.

The facility was divided up into various areas, in a very similar fashion to the way a hazardous waste site is divided up into different zones (i.e. support zone, contamination reduction zone, exclusion zone), where some are designated clean areas and others are potentially contaminated (e.g. an area currently occupied by an animal undergoing treatment for a particular ailment). In this case, it is done to confine pathogens to the potentially contaminated areas thereby decreasing the chance of cross contaminating the clean areas. In addition, various pathogens have been observed in marine mammals (Sadove et al, 1993) that are potentially communicable across species lines (i.e. distemper from pinnipeds to canines) and decontamination procedures are necessary to insure that employees do not bring pathogens home to their pets and other family members. It was indicated that someone working with the dolphin had acquired biconjuctivitis (pink eye) which they believed was attributed to exposure to the mucus ejected from the blow hole during cetacean exhalation. With regards to the dolphin watch, and associated cetacean tank area, the decontamination procedure solely involved the use of a boot wash to disinfect the shoes of personnel entering and exiting the area. The typical facility boot wash was made up of a shallow plastic cement mixing tub filled high enough with a diluted Roccal-D disinfectant to cover the sole of a boot and included an astro-turf-like door mat on the bottom, below the fluid level, for use as an agitator to aid in dislodging any debris and facilitate the disinfection of the entire depth of the sole tread. Roccal-D is an effective disinfectant against viruses, bacteria and chlamydia in a dilution ratio as low as 1:200.

The Dolphin Watch involved the observation of a Delphinus delphis which arrived at the facility on August 11, 1995. The animal had washed ashore on the coast of Connecticut from the waters of the Long Island Sound, near Fisher Island, and was captured by the staff of the Mystic Aquarium. It was then transported to Greenport, NY and finally to the Riverhead Facility. At a weight of 53 pounds, it was deemed approximately 4 to 6 months of age and had not yet been weaned. It was thought that it had somehow become separated from its mother. The following is a brief description of the species:

Source: American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet

D. delphis can reach a length of 8.5 feet and weigh as much as 297 pounds. Their color patterns are the most elaborate of any cetacean. The back is dark gray-to-black from the top of the head to the tail dipping to a V on the sides below the dorsal fin. The flanks are light gray behind the dorsal fin and yellowish-tan forward of the dorsal fin, forming an hourglass pattern. It has a white belly and large dark circles around the eyes connected by a dark line that runs across the head and behind the beak. It also has a black stripe that runs from the jaw to the flippers (American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet, http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/finwhl.htm). The majority of the Delphinus delphis population, in U.S. waters, exists from the Georges Bank (Gulf of Maine) south to the Gulf of Mexico, in a broad band along the continental shelf, primarily where the depth ranges from 328 to 656 feet and temperatures are greater than 40° F; however, they remain common in waters 6,560 feet deep and greater. Delphinus delphis are, therefore, rarely encountered close to the coast; however, some individuals have been viewed closer to the coast during the summer. They are fast swimmers that often jump clear out of the water and will bowride in the wake of a ship for long periods of time. They eat a variety of fishes and squid. Young common dolphins require much socialization in order to function properly with other members of their species. Common dolphins are usually found in groups of 50 to 200 individuals, however, schools of up to 2,000 may also be seen (Katona et al, 1993).

The D. delphis was housed in the facility cetacean tank; with a diameter of over twenty feet and a depth of over eight feet, it was the most suitable tank on the premises, although highly dissimilar to the deepwater habitat a member of its species would ordinarily occupy in the wild. At the time, it was one of only two common dolphins in captivity in the U.S. The other was located at Sea World in California and had been stranded in 1988.

The Dolphin Watch shifts were originally six hours in duration and entailed monitoring the D. delphis' breathing rates and documenting its behavior. The shifts were later decreased to four hours. Breathing rates were recorded every fifteen minutes, for a two-minute period. Any behavioral changes to the usual swimming and breathing sequence (see diagram below) were recorded.

Source: American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet

Such changes commonly included:

• Spy hopping, whereby the head is lifted straight up out of the water in order to "spy" at a particular object of interest,
• Porpoising, where the animal lifts its body above the water and quickly dives back in; and
• Breaching (jumping completely out of the water).

In addition, any unusual vocal sounds produced were documented (i.e. whistles and clicks) as well as loud splashes.

At the beginning of a shift, those working the shift were usually informed when a feeding was planned. Prior to the feeding, the effluent valve was cracked in order to sufficiently lower the water level of the tank to allow staff members to enter the tank in order to capture the D. delphis to perform a tube feeding. During feedings, the time required to capture the D. delphis was recorded, as well as an elaborate description of its interaction with staff members in the tank, its behavior, and the amount of food given.

Tube feeding usually entailed the following regardless of the animal being fed:

1. Filling a large syringe-like device with a predetermined finely measured quantity of blender processed fish and/or multi milk (including medication, if applicable);
2. Attaching a polyethylene tube to the end;
3. Coating the polyethylene tube with cod liver oil for lubrication;
4. Filling the tube with the contents of the syringe;
5. Kinking the distal end of the tube to avoid spilling the food;
6. Inserting the tube into the animals mouth, through the esophagus, and into its stomach (taking care not to force it through the trachea and into its lungs.;
7. Forcing the food through the tube and into the animal’s stomach by putting pressure on the syringe;
8. Taking a second syringe filled with water and forcing the remaining contents of the tube into the animals stomach with the water;
9. Removing the tube from the animal; and
10. Drawing the remaining contents of the tube into the empty syringe to adequately measure the quantity not ingested by the animal.

It was indicated that cetacean rehabilitation has a success rate of only 5%, and that, compared to the vast veterinary knowledge acquired for dogs, almost nothing is known about D. delphis. It was also explained that unlike domestic animals, which are comforted and calmed by the soft supportive voice of their owner while experiencing the stress associated with a visit to the veterinarian, wild animals, are, if anything, are increasingly stressed by the superfluous audible stimuli. The point was repeatedly made that the animals at the facility are wild and must remain wild if they are ever to be released back to their wild habitat.

When the staff exited the tank it was ordered that a CBC and SMAC be performed on the next blood sample drawn from the D. delphis. A CBC (complete blood count) is an extremely valuable screening tool for a broad array of disorders including:

• Allergies,
• Anemia,
• Blood diseases,
• Infection (viral vs bacterial),
• Internal bleeding, and
• Problems with blood clotting.

The test involves the evaluation of the content of the various components of the blood thereby providing different facets of information regarding the health of an individual. In humans, CBC is the most routinely performed analyses. It requires no special restrictions on the part of the individual, so the sample may therefore be taken at any time.

SMAC (sequential multiple analysis computer), on the other hand, is a blood chemistry analysis which is best performed while an animal is fasting. SMAC generally includes a panel of about 25 common chemistry tests and can provide information regarding the status of the following:

• Diabetes,
• Dehydration,
• Electrolyte balance,
• Kidney function,
• Liver function, and
• Nutritional state.

Over the five months that the D. delphis remained at the facility, it grew over 6 inches and gained approximately sixty pounds. It went from being tube fed to taking fish by hand. Its condition went from critical to stable and improving. An X-ray revealed that its initial lung infection had cleared up and blood tests indicated that its blood values were normal. It was at that point that it began actively seeking socialization. All personnel entering the tank to aid in its socialization wore dry-suits which, unlike wet suits, allow no water to come through thereby keeping the body dry as well as warm. It was mentioned that just as a dog uses its mouth during play to grab at things in a non-aggressive way, the D. delphis discovered that it was able to use its mouth in a similar fashion, however, as its teeth are very fine and sharp, it would occasionally breach the material of the gloves.

By December it had become quite cold. One evening, it was observed that the skin on the D. delphis' back, near its blow hole, was peeling. It was later indicated that its skin had become chapped. Shortly thereafter, it was decided that the D. delphis would be better off if placed in a smaller indoor tank in the facility’s "back of the house" where it would be better shielded from the elements. In January of 1996 the D. delphis was shipped down to Florida, where the winter is more mild, to stay there briefly prior to its release back to the wild. Within weeks of its arrival, unfortunately, word was received that it had expired. A subsequent necropsy (autopsy) revealed that it was suffering from lung worm, a parasite which is rather difficult to detect.

The first time the back of the house was viewed, the door was opened to allow the viewing of a juvenile harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) housed in a tank within a few feet from the door, that had just arrived at the facility. The seal appeared to be underweight and was severely dehydrated. Within seconds of the door being opened, the seal sneezed a large quantity of mucous, across the gap of several feet, directly into the face of the viewer. Instructions were immediately given to thoroughly wash with Vironox (also known as Vionex), an anti-microbial soap developed for hospital, healthcare and professional use, which has broad spectrum germ killing properties (over 99% reduction in 30 seconds). It was mentioned that over time, and with extended use, Vironox forms a protective film on the skin’s surface.

Sea turtle duties were basically incorporated into the rest of the duties associated with the seal/stranding team (i.e. stranding, feeding, water testing, etc. See below). Most of the turtles had arrived at the facility after being stranded as a result of becoming cold stunned. During the warmer months, the waters along the coast are sufficiently warm to allow sea turtles to migrate away from the ordinarily warmer waters of the gulf stream. When winter arrives, however, the turtles are often unable to make it back to the warmer gulf stream waters in time and, as they are cold blooded, become cold stunned as a result of their inability to maintain an adequately warm body temperature. Upon becoming cold stunned, a turtle cannot be brought back to a warm temperature too quickly or it will go into shock. The Foundation always advises those who come across cold stunned sea turtles, or any other marine wildlife for that matter, to immediately call the Stranding Hotline, (631) 369-9829 (The Foundation is the only organization authorized to handle such animals in New York State); however, it makes a point of indicating that turtles should never be placed in the inside of a car that has the heat on, rather, they should be placed in the trunk. Cold stunned sea turtles are very gradually brought to a warmer body temperature over a period of several days. A number of sea turtles were revived at the facility after near death experiences with cold stunning. Many required intibation where oxygen was tubed down their trachea and into their lungs. Some of the turtles that were saved had sever frostbite. One Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempi) had become blind as a result, and others required partial limb (i.e. fore flipper) amputation.

The majority of the sea turtles undergoing rehabilitation and evaluation at the facility were loggerheads (Caretta caretta) and L. kempi; however, Atlantic green turtle (Chelonia mydas ) were also received on occasion. It was indicated that, in the past, the Foundation had dealt with leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea)

In August 1995, the Foundation received what was then the smallest documented C. caretta in New York. It was amazing to see how quickly it would grow on a diet of primarily squid.

A C. caretta was once received with a large hole in its carapace (posterior of shell) which was believed to be the result of a boat propeller strike. It was clearly suffering from a punctured lung because each time it inhaled, air bubbles escaped from the large hole in its back. The hole was patched and the shell was fixed with a combination of dental bonding compound and auto body fiberglass tape and filler (bondo). The part of the shell that was repaired had the typical orangey-red bondo color of a car undergoing auto body repair that had yet to be repainted. It was explained that when the shell grows back, the fiberglass sheds off. The animal's regenerative capability and quick recovery were nothing short of amazing. It grew so large and so fast that it needed to be placed in one of the larger seal tanks in the back of the house.

A response to a hotline call, regarding three dead sea turtles that had washed up on residential property along a canal in the Hamptons, revealed that they were not in fact sea turtles but diamond-back terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin), a very common salt marsh species. Their possession of webbed feet, as opposed to flippers, was a clear morphological giveaway.

The turtle room was in the Visitors' Center between the main display area and the back of the house. In order to get to the offices and other clean areas of the back of the house (i.e. the feeding area and lab), one would typically walk through the turtle room. On such a walk, a balloon was once observed floating in one of the turtle tanks and it was clearly passed by one of the turtles. Since the earth is mostly covered with water, such water is generally the final resting place of helium balloons, released along the coastline, when they finally pop. Unfortunately, when deflated and in the water, balloons look very much like the jellyfish that sea turtles often eat. The turtle that passed the balloon was basically lucky. More often than not, the balloons get tangled up in their intestine and the die.

Source: The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation at Atlantis Marine World

C. caretta is the most common sea turtle in the world. It usually inhabits the continental shelves and estuarine environments of temperate and subtropical waters. In the western Atlantic they can be found anywhere from Newfoundland south to Argentina and Chile. Named for their large log-like heads, they can reach three feet in length and weigh up to 300 lbs. Their diet primarily consists of crustaceans (i.e. crabs) and mollusks and they occasionally consume jelly fish, fish and eel grass. Nesting on beaches from New Jersey to Texas, they are the only sea turtle species that consistently nests on the U.S. Atlantic coast. They are nocturnal nesters and, during the breeding season, lay one to seven clutches, of over 100 eggs each, at two week intervals. Listed as "threatened" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act; the Atlantic shrimp trawls and development of their nesting beaches pose the greatest threats to their population.

In response to the high rate of sea turtle mortality associated with trawl nets, shrimp trawlers in the southeastern and Gulf coasts are required to have a turtle excluder device (TED) on their nets which allows the turtles, and other large marine life, to escape from the top. Unfortunately, D. coriacea adults (see below) are often too large to fit through the TED opening, remain trapped, and drown.

Source: The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation at Atlantis Marine World

C. mydas is globally distributed in warm ocean waters and exists in three major habitats during the course of its life. High energy beach nesting grounds, convergence zones where they remain pelagic, and benthic feeding grounds in shallow protected water. Their name derives from their greenish colored body fat known as calipee. They are the largest of the hard shelled turtles reaching four feet in length and weighing as much as 500 lbs. Their diet is primarily herbivorous, consisting of algae and sea grasses; however, it is generally assumed that hatchlings are initially omnivorous. They are uniquely characterized by four coastal or lateral plates on either side of their smooth shells as well as a pair of elongated prefrontal scales between their eyes. They also clearly differ in appearance from C. caretta in that their heads are proportionally smaller compared to their bodies. In the water of the U.S. they nest in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida (predominantly its east coast). Similar to C. caretta (above), they are nocturnal nesters that lay one to seven clutches of over 100 eggs at 12-14 days intervals during the breeding season. They are also listed as "threatened" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act but the breeding population in Florida is listed as endangered. They continue to be exploited for their calipee (the primary ingredient of turtle soup), skins, meat and shells. The degradation of their feeding habitats and nesting areas also poses a major threat to their population.

Source: The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation at Atlantis Marine World

D. coriacea is also distributed world-wide and has the most extensive range of any reptile as a result of its pursuit of jellyfish, its main staple, which float throughout the oceans of the world in a largely pelagic state. Their ability to exist in much colder waters led many to believe that they were actually homeotherms (warm blooded) and able to maintain their body temperature, however, subsequent studies disproved that hypothesis. Unlike the other sea turtles, which have shells made up of bony plates covered with scaly scutes, D. coriacea has a leathery skin covering its body. They also have disproportionately large fore-flippers, which enable them to swim at a fast pace for long periods of time, and keels running down their backs and along their undersides which enable them to more efficiently slice through the water. They are the largest of the sea turtles reaching six feet in length and weighing over 1,400 lbs. Their nests may be found on any high energy beach with coarse sand near deep water. They lay five to seven clutches of 60-150 eggs each at nine to ten day intervals. They are listed as "endangered" worldwide and the greatest threat to their population is the collection of their eggs for food. They are also threatened by plastics in the water, that look similar to jellyfish, as well as the anthropogenic degradation of their nesting beaches.

Source: The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation at Atlantis Marine World

L. kempi is the most endangered sea turtle species in the world. This stems from the fact that they solely nest on a small strip of beach near Ranchos Nuevos, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Adult L. kempi usually remain within the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to the Mexican border; however, juveniles follow the warm gulf stream waters up to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. They have been protected in Mexico, with armed guards on the beach, since 1966 and by the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1973. They are also the smallest of the sea turtles averaging from 20-28" in length and weighing a mere 80-120 lbs. They feed on crabs, fish, jellyfish, squid, snails, clams, starfish and some marine vegetation. Since the individuals that become stranded on Long Island are juveniles, they are usually under 20" in length and below 35 lbs.

Visitor center volunteers pass along additional, fascinating information regarding L. kempi which is not found on the posters: When the armed guards were unable to keep raccoons from foraging for the L. kempi eggs and hatchlings, it was decided that the eggs be collected and relocated to a more secure segment of the beach. Oddly enough, when the eggs hatched, all the hatchlings were male. It turned out that, with regards to all sea turtles, the sex of the hatchling is entirely dependent upon the incubation temperature of the nest which varies with the depth of sand.

The navigational mechanisms identified in various sea turtle species involve orientation in response to distinct environmental cues. Visible light, wave acceleration, and the geomagnetic field are used sequentially to guide the turtles from the natal beaches to a life in the open ocean and back. C. caretta hatchlings have demonstrated the ability to distinguish between the Earth’s magnetic inclination angles thereby deriving an approximation of latitude. Magnetoreception has been attributed to magnetite found in the brains of sea turtles, however, the associated physiological processes have yet to be determined.

For decades scientists have marveled at the homing ability of sea turtles (Schmidt-Koenig, 1975). C. mydas is known to migrate over 1,400 miles from its feeding grounds along the coast of Brazil to a nesting site on Ascension Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (Lohmann, 1992). C. caretta have been shown to migrate from their natal beaches on the Atlantic coast of Florida to the sargassum rafts floating in the North Atlantic Gyre (Carr, 1986). Some turtles have exhibited a preference for returning to nest on a specific subsection of a beach (Chelazzi, 1992).

The mechanisms allowing sea turtles to accurately navigate through the open ocean are finally being identified (Lohmann, 1992). Each navigational mechanism involves the orientation of turtles in response to a particular environmental cue. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of the following three cues to the offshore migrations of newly hatched turtles (Seachrist, 1994):

In addition, orientation in response to olfactory cues and a sun compass mechanism have been suggested.

Major breakthroughs in sea turtle navigation research have led to subsequent studies of increased complexity. The majority of the recent studies have been conducted with sea turtle hatchlings as they are easier to handle than adults (Lohmann, 1992). The roles, if any, of potential environmental cues and associated navigational responses are presented below.

In the past, sea turtle navigation was presumably attributed to an olfactory response (Able, 1980). C. mydas hatchlings have undergone olfactory imprinting in the laboratory and have been shown to respond to the imprinted substance months after initial exposure. Experiments with L. kempi have revealed their preference for the sand and water found at their hatching site. Additional studies have shown that sea turtles can orient to low concentrations of solutions from natural beaches, however, all have failed to prove that imprinting of hatchlings occurs at the natal beaches (Chelazzi, 1992). Some scientists maintain that olfactory cues work in concert with geomagnetic cues and that additional research is warranted (Seachrist, 1994).

The role of visible light in sea turtle navigation has been documented by a number of authorities. It has been demonstrated that upon hatching at night, turtles align themselves and head in the direction of the light they first see (Lohmann and Lohmann, 1994a). According to Lohmann (1991), at night, the ocean reflects more light from the sky than does the land. Mrosovsky (1978) indicated that hatchlings respond positively towards light and fail to orient in a seaward direction when blindfolded and described the sea finding mechanism of hatchlings as the permanent illumination cues that distinguish the seaward and landward directions. In addition, Lohmann (1991) hypothesized that hatchlings use light cues to initially calibrate their magnetic compasses (see Geomagnetism below).

Ireland et al. (1978) demonstrated that upon entering the ocean, C. mydas hatchlings consistently swam away from land with initial travel paths approximately perpendicular to the beaches from which they were released. Since waves ordinarily propagate towards shore, heading into waves usually results in offshore movement (Lohmann and Lohmann, 1992). In a study conducted with newly hatched C. caretta, C. mydas, and D. coriacea, taken 11 kilometers out to sea, all consistently swam into the waves. When the sea became flat the hatchlings either swam in circles or headed in different directions (Smoyer, 1990). The hatchlings were then tested in a laboratory wave tank, in complete darkness, to determine if they needed to see the waves in order to orient themselves; all persisted in heading into the waves (Vaughan, 1990). It is believed that the accelerations produced beneath waves are sufficient to be detected by the vertebrate inner ear and that hatchlings determine wave direction by monitoring the sequence of the accelerations (Lohmann and Lohmann, 1992).

There is evidence that C. caretta of the North Atlantic remain within the clockwise current system that encircles the Sargasso Sea, known as the North Atlantic gyre, until they return to their natal beaches to nest (Carr, 1986). Given the vastness of the gyre and the potential for turtles to become lost in dangerous currents, it would seem appropriate for turtles to have a long range navigational mechanism to keep them on a proper course. It has been shown that a number of vertebrates, including homing pigeons and salmon, utilize the Earth’s magnetic field for navigational purposes (Lohmann, 1992). Laboratory experiments with C. mydas revealed that the turtles had particles of the magnetic mineral magnetite in their brains (Perry et al., 1985). This detection of magnetite prompted a number of studies in sea turtle geomagnetic orientation (Seachrist, 1994).

Lohmann (1991) began studying the ability of C. caretta to orient using the geomagnetic field. Hatchlings were harnessed to a lever arm in a specially designed tank consisting of an inverted satellite dish. The satellite dish was enclosed by a Rubens cube coil which is used to generate magnetic fields. After initially exposing the hatchlings to a dim easterly light in the laboratory, Lohmann (1991) turned off the light and allowed the turtles to swim in the dark. The turtles were found to be non-randomly oriented and swam in an easterly direction. Upon reversing the magnetic field, the hatchlings swam in a westerly direction indicating that they can detect magnetic fields and orient themselves accordingly (Lohmann, 1991).

According to Light et al. (1993) there are two types of magnetic compasses in animals. One is the polar compass, of the sockeye salmon, which determines north using the polarity of the horizontal field component. The other is the inclination compass, of birds, that does not distinguish between north and south but determines a poleward direction by detecting the angle formed between the total magnetic field vector and the gravity vector (inclination angle). Studies performed by Light et al. (1993) demonstrated that C. caretta possesses an inclination compass similar to that found in birds.

Lohmann and Lohmann (1994) further studied the magnetic orientation behavior of C. caretta hatchlings and determined that the turtles can distinguish between different magnetic inclination angles. When the hatchlings were exposed to an inclination angle of 57º they swam towards the east, however when the inclination angle was increased to 60º they shifted their course to the south-southwest. It was then discovered that a 60º inclination angle corresponds to a point where the Gulf Stream current splits and the northern half of which continues past Great Britain (North Atlantic Drift) into frigid waters. By swimming south-southwest at this point, the hatchlings avoid being dragged to a cold death in the freezing waters and instead remain in the gyre system (Lohmann and Lohmann, 1994). The response to the geomagnetic cue is therefore quite complex. Unfortunately, the physiological mechanisms behind magnetoreception have not yet been determined (Lohmann, 1991).

Three distinct environmental cues are, therefore, used sequentially to guide the turtles from the natal beaches to the open ocean and back for procreation, namely:

1. An initial light source in the night sky setting the hatchlings’ bearings for the sea;
2. Accelerations produced by incoming waves indicating the offshore direction; and,
3. The inclination angle of the geomagnetic field indicating the proper course in the open ocean and the return route to the natal beach.

Regarding the beaching of marine wildlife, it was indicated that in the ocean, any animal that stops swimming becomes another animal's lunch. It also understandable why any marine animal with lungs would prefer to peacefully breathe its last breaths of air on a beach rather than suffer the agony associated with drowning.

Seal stranding season generally corresponded with winter, spanning from late December through late March. During this time of the year the pinniped population, while following its food source, generally occupies the southern-most end of its range. The increase in the number of stranded individuals, during this time period, is therefore a direct result of the seasonal increase in the local population. There were always exceptions to the rule, however, and stranded individuals were received throughout the other months of the year; although at a much lesser frequency.

In order to be eligible to work on the Seal Team, a minimum of twenty hours of work must first be completed at the facility. Volunteers and interns ordinarily accrued their twenty hours by working in the facility’s Visitors’ Center; however, hours worked on the Dolphin Watch were deemed suitable. The seal team duties were somewhat repetitive and primarily consisted of cleaning and feeding and various tasks associated with those categories of work. Volunteers/interns occasionally took part in a standing rescue and subsequent physical examination. Such events were usually few and far between, however, there were instances where nine seals were rescued in a single day.

Regarding the handling of animals by interns/volunteers, it was explained that Foundation required extensive experience of an intern/volunteer prior to allowing them to handle any of the wildlife at the facility, due to the potential for injury. To much surprise, seals were described as wolves with flippers; forever putting to rest the image of the playful sea lions one typically views performing at various aquariums. Handlers of seals were required to don the following personal protective equipment (PPE): a Coast Guard survival suit, boots, latex gloves (inner), and leather work gloves (outer):

Medical assistance was required for anyone bitten by a seal (i.e. a tetanus shot).

The annual increase in seal strandings (Table 1 and Figure 1) is believed to be the result of their population growth associated with their hunting being regulated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Of the four species of seal typically stranded on Long Island, namely, P. vitulina (Harbor Seal), Halichoerus grypus (Grey Seal), Phoca groenlandica (Harp Seal) and Cystophora cristata (Hooded Seal) both P. groenlandica and C. cristata are arctic species which should not be found anywhere near the waters of Long Island. Strandings of Phoca hispida (Ringed Seal), the most common species of seal in the arctic (Katona et al., 1993), are even more rare but do occur on occasion.

The following is a brief description of each species worked with:

P. vitulina are found in near shore waters of all northern oceans and connected seas. Adult males and females may reach up to 5 feet 6 inches in length with males weighing up to 250 pounds and females up to 200 pounds. They have been described as having spaniel-like heads and faces. They can be seen in a number of colors, light grey, dark grey, tan, brown, reddish and almost black. They have a V-shaped nostril formation. Their pelage, or coat, appears lighter when dry than when wet. Their normal breeding range in the Northwest Atlantic is from any ice-free waters of the Arctic south to New Hampshire. Their diet consists primarily of herring, squid, alewife, flounder, hake, sand lance, and mackerel. (Katona et al., 1993).

It was not uncommon for the Foundation to receive both juveniles and adults of this species.

H. grypus are large seals of exposed islands, reefs and shoals. Adult males reach up to 8 feet in length and weigh up to 990 pounds, whereas females reach 7 feet and weigh up to 594 pounds. Their heads have been described as horse-like and their snouts are substantially longer than those of P. vitulina. Their nostrils appear to form a W. Their coats are typically spotted and the color of their pelage is dark brown, grey, or almost black for males, whereas females are light grey and tan dorsally and yellowish-white ventrally with some dark spots and blotches. They normally range from Northern Labrador south to the Nantucket Sound. They commonly consume herring, cod, flounder, skate, squid, mackerel, capelin, lumpfish, silver hake, and sand lance. (Katona et al., 1993).

The individuals received by the Foundation were juveniles that had plain grey coats without many spots or blotches. They tended to be the most vocal occupants at the facility, sounding very much like women yelling with a high pitched voices.

P. groenlandica look very much like P. vitulina although they are somewhat larger. Both males and females average 5 feet 7 inches in length and weigh 286 pounds. They are named for the large harp-shaped pattern on their back. Their color ranges from white to off-white, cream, tan or silver all with darker heads. Their normal range is from the Arctic to Labrador rarely reaching as far south as the Gulf of Maine. They commonly dive to 330 feet subsisting on a diet of capelin, polar cod, herring and crustaceans (Katona et al., 1993).

These seals became famous decades ago when their white pups were being beaten to death with clubs by people who wanted their pelts. The Foundation usually received juveniles which had grey coats with dark spots, the harps not yet formed.

C. cristata are large seals with males reaching 8 feet 6 inches in length and weighing up to 800 pounds. Females are smaller reaching 7 feet 3 inches and weighing 500 pounds. Their color is greyish with large black patches and smaller spots on their bellies. Their range is basically the same as that of P. groenlandica. Their hood, which is found in males only, is their most distinctive feature and it starts developing at 4 years of age. It is comprised of an enlarged nasal cavity which runs from their crown to their upper lip and it overhangs. When angered, the seal can inflate this structure into a crest twice the size of a football. In addition, they are able to inflate their nasal membrane which blows up like a red balloon, out of a single nostril, and it makes a pinging sound when shaken. They feed in water up to 660 feet deep and subsist on redfish, Greenland halibut, herring, capelin, cod, octopus, squid, shrimp and mussels (Katona et al., 1993).

The Foundation usually received juveniles who had no hood development and whose color can best be described as saddle-shoe-like but with a dark face (toe). The vocalization of C. cristata sounds exactly like the roar of the character "Chewbaca the Wookie" in the first three Star Wars films.

Only fish suitable for human consumption are fed to the seals. Herring and mackerel are the most common varieties fed. Herring are preferred for their higher fat content (7.5 - 19.4%), and therefore higher energy value; however, their use was not as pleasurable because their scales invariably clogged up the sink in the food preparation area. Mackerel, on the other hand, have much smaller scales and are easier to handle and clean up after. While lower in fat than herring, they also contain a substantial amount (6.2-13.0%).

Fresh fish were sometimes donated by fisherman to help the cause; however, more often than not, frozen fish were received. Before closing the facility for the night, the amount of food required for the next day’s feeding was calculated and the quantity of refrigerated fish accounted for. If additional fish were still needed, boxes of frozen fish were removed from the freezer and placed on large trays to thaw out overnight. It takes anywhere from 12-48 hours for frozen fish to completely thaw and it was required that the fish be adequately thawed prior to feeding because the feeding of incompletely thawed fish often resulted in the seals having diarrhea or regurgitating.

Fish were weighed out on a zeroed scale, the quantity of which was taken directly off the individual seal's chart. Medication (meds), the type and quantity of which was also indicated on each seal's chart, was administered during feeding by stuffing the capsules in a particular food fish's anus using the eraser end of a pencil (at first medication was packed into the fish's gills but it would often fall out). The tails of the meds fish were always removed in order to be able to distinguish it from the rest of the fish on the feeding tray. The meds fish was never the first fish thrown into the seal's tank. Another fish was first throw in so as to stimulate the seal's interest in eating and to also see whether or not it would eat at all. Also, the seals were often on their respective ledges when the first fish was thrown in, so, the person conducting the feeding would typically wait for them to enter the water to retrieve the first fish prior to throwing in the rest. After the seal entered the water, the rest of the fish were thrown in without delay.

The fish were always thrown into the tank in order to avoid, as much as possible, a seal associating food with people (which could prove to be extremely dangerous to it after its release if it happened to approach the wrong person). Once again, every effort was made to keep the wildlife wild. As a case in point, there was one young male P. vitulina that became tame. Every time its tank was scooped (see below) it would clown around and play with the net by swimming into it and surfacing with it on its head, making scooping rather difficult. All were informed to yell at the seal as an effort to re-instill in it some fear of people. If it continued to be friendly it would not prove to be a good candidate for release and the Foundation would either have to find it a permanent home, at and aquarium, or be forced to preemptively euthanize the animal.

After conducting a feeding, the behavior of the seal was documented on its chart (i.e. Ate immediately, swallowing the fish whole). Seals normally swallow fish whole and head first, however, some individuals had a tendency to shred their fish while holding it between their fore flippers. Seals that shred were obviously more difficult to medicate because it was never clear whether or not they actually swallowed the medication. Following a feeding, each seal's tank was scooped in order to determine what they did and did not eat. Fish and fish parts, scooped off the bottom of the tanks, were weighed and each seal's chart was updated by subtracting the weight of the scooped food from the amount originally fed. The scooped fish and fish parts were then discarded. In addition, if the meds fish (the one lacking a tail) was found uneaten it was documented that the seal did not have its required medication.

Seal tube feeding was basically the same as that described above for dolphin tube feeding with the addition of a bite stick and steel mesh gloves. The bite stick is a short thick wooden dowel used to gain entry into the seal’s mouth for insertion of the tube and to control its powerful jaw. During tube feeding, the steel mesh gloves further protect the hands of the staff member inserting the tube. When seals are force fed, a whole fish is forced head first down the animals throat. This is also performed wearing the steel mesh gloves. Seals have pointed teeth which enable them to seize their slippery prey (Katona et al., 1993). The mesh gloves are designed to protect the hands from laceration caused by sharp objects (i.e. the knives used in the butchering and meat packing industry) and therefore function adequately in preventing a puncture wound caused by a seal’s teeth. They do not provide much protection, however, from the crushing pressure of the animal’s jaw.

Cleaning, or more accurately, disinfecting, was conducted using a bleach and water solution. The Nassau County Department of Health generally recommends a 1:3 bleach to water solution, with regards to the disinfection of surfaces containing biological contaminants (i.e. bacteria, viruses, molds and fungi), whereas the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) typically recommends a 1:10 solution. Since the Foundation budget is exceedingly small, primarily supported by donations and grants, there is no room for excess spending and as bleach is rather costly and consumed in such a great quantity at the facility, it was necessary to strike a balance between economics and efficacy. For general cleaning a 1:32 solution was used as this concentration had been determined to be an adequate bacteriocide, fungicide and virucide. In situations where "shocking" was necessary (i.e. to prepare a tank or cage for a new occupant), the concentration was doubled to 1:16. Cages were used for animals that were too weak to swim and would likely drown if they slipped off a tank's ledge:

P. groenlandica resting on a tank's ledge

It was indicated that not all brands of bleach are created equally and that only bleach with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite should be purchased for use at the facility. In addition, after a short period of time, the strength of the solution decreases as a result of the evaporation of the chlorine (Cl). For this reason, the solution was mixed on demand for both mop buckets and five gallon cleaning buckets the contents of which were completely depleted with their immediate use. Spray bottles of the solution were well distributed throughout the facility, however, many of them did not function very well. Spray bottles were frequently used to disinfect food trays and feeding gloves, after feeding, before returning from the seal tank area to the clean area in the back of the house. Feeding equipment, on the other hand, was not bleached; some of which (i.e. polyethylene tubes used for tube feeding) was instead doused with ethanol. After use, each feeding tray, as well as the other feeding equipment was cleaned in the sink with ordinary liquid dishwashing detergent. Cleaning gloves were always yellow and the gloves used for feeding and the handling of food and feeding equipment were always other colors (i.e. pink, green and blue) to insure that cross contamination of food and feeding equipment would not occur. In addition, each seal tank had its own dedicated scrub brush and bucket.

The separation of equipment became even more pronounced when a seal was found to be suffering from seal pox. The disease was considered highly contagious so special precautions were taken and additional policies were implemented (i.e. feeding the seals with seal pox last). The tanks of seals suffering from seal pox were clearly labeled with a red "Seal Pox" sign:

A Seal with pox. The back of the red sign is visible at the top right

Seal pox, described by Okada and Fujimoto (1984) as epizootic proliferative dermatitis caused by a parapoxvirus, are clearly visible on an animal and are much larger and far more grotesque looking than are human chicken pox. Interestingly enough, no seal arrived at the facility with seal pox. This led to the belief that they either already had the virus and became symptomatic due to the unusual stress associated with being kept in captivity, similar to the way humans who previously had chicken pox come down with shingles, or they were somehow exposed at the facility itself. Seal pox is normally self-eliminating and typically does not respond to treatment (Gombert, 1989). Every attempt was made to isolate the seals with pox from the rest of the animals housed at the facility in order to avoid a major outbreak. This was done by keeping all the seals with pox in the tanks on one side of the building and those without pox on the other side. When the much larger cetacean tank was vacant, a group of four seals with pox were placed in it, together, in order to completely avoid having any seals with pox in the same building as those without pox. A floating dock was provided for them to haul out on:

Four seals with pox on the floating dock

When cleaning a tank's ledge, it was required to get the seal to enter the water. It was important to never take one's eyes off a seal, not even for a second, especially when occupying its space. Their aggressiveness would be best described as flick-of-the-switch, and you could never be sure when they would snap. Some animals came out with sounds that even scared some of the veteran staff members to the point where they would jump. It was indicated that one could use the brush end of a scrub brush (typical wooden handled floor scrubbing utensil), if need be, to defend oneself against an attacking seal, but never the handle end (which could severely harm a seal). More often than not, the seals remained in the water and did not display any aggression. One young C. cristata, that displayed aggression, ended up breaking one of its canines when it bit the side of the tank. After cleaning a ledge the door was closed and latched, and the ledge was then sprayed off with a hose. If applicable, the condition of any feces or other bodily fluid observed on the ledge was documented (i.e. feces was soft and gritty). The spraying of bleach solution directly on concentrated urine or feces was not permitted due to the potential for toxic chloramine formation.

Stranding rescue basically entailed getting the stranded animal into a stranding cage and transporting it back to the facility. A P. groenlandica that was rescued "played dead" which made it easy to get it into the cage. Arctic species, such as P. groenlandica and C. Cristata, often play dead since it increases their chance of survival when attacked by polar bears; which presumably would rather not scavenge carrion.

Arrival at the facility and release from the stranding cage.

Restraining seals was necessary in several situations:

• During a stranding rescue to get the animal into a stranding cage;
• Upon arrival at the facility for an entrance physical examination and any subsequent physical examinations thereafter;
• During tube feeding or force feeding;
• To transfer a seal from one tank or cage to another; or,
• To get the animal back into the standing cage to transport it to a site of release.

The person handling restraint was suited up in the PPE described above. A seal was captured by first trapping its head, in either a blanket or sheet, to keep it from biting. It was then positioned on its belly and the person handling restraint would sit on top of it, firmly grasping the base of its skull and keeping its fore flippers pinned against its sides using their thighs:

Restraining the animal during the initial physical examination.

It was mentioned that if an animal is able to get its flipper out, it may be able to suddenly flip over, throwing the restrainer off in the process.

Physicals were conducted when an animal arrived at the facility and periodically thereafter, as needed, to check its progress and to arrive at a prognosis. A typical physical included:

• Weighing the animal,
• Taking its temperature,
• Drawing blood samples;

• Obtaining stool samples; and,
• Sampling any other visible discharge (i.e. from the eyes, nose, etc.)

In addition, the animal's heart rate, respiration, behavior, and the condition of its coat, teeth, eyes, ears, nose and mouth were documented on a marine mammal physical exam form.

Drawing a blood sample.

Animals were checked by a veterinarian who visited the facility on a weekly basis. Euthanasia was sometimes considered for animals deemed unlikely to ever recover. A large (400 pound) male P. groenlandica at the facility had gone blind and its general health was failing. The very day they planned to euthanize it, they found that it had died on its own. On the other hand, a young male H. grypus came in with the entire circumference of its neck severely torn from becoming stuck and struggling in a fishing net. It initially appeared as though its condition would never improve, yet, within a month or so, it made a remarkable recovery:

View of the neck wound (facing the back of the seal's head)

The neck is completely healed with almost no trace of prior injury

Laboratory analysis was primarily conducted off-site by a contracted analytical laboratory; however, some useful on-site analyses were performed on the blood samples taken during the physical examinations:

• Hemacrit - Provides the proportion of blood components (i.e. percent red blood cells) via centrifugation.
• Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) - Measures the amount of a urea in the blood which is formed when protein is broken down during normal metabolism. The urea is normally excreted in the urine but If the kidneys are diseased the urea builds up in the blood. The urea is an inverse index of kidney function; the higher the urea the worse the kidneys are functioning. BUN may also be elevated as a result of dehydration, even if the kidneys are functioning properly.

Animals were nursed back to health by keeping them out of the elements and in a controlled environment, regulating their nutrition, and, if need be, treating them with prescribed medication. A medication commonly administered was Keflex, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections. Ivermectin, the ingredient in the heart worm medication typically given to dogs on a monthly basis during mosquito season, was used to kill parasites. It was mentioned that the use of ivermectin could potentially kill an animal. It was explained that if an animal's parasite loading is very high and the ivermectin kills all the parasites at once, the sheer amount of dead parasites could drive the animal into shock. Hence, the reason why dog owners should be diligent about having heart worm blood analysis performed prior to initiating a heart worm prevention medication regimen. Animals that were severely dehydrated were re-hydrated intravenously (IV) with Lactated Ringers or 5% Dextrose.

Healthy seals can be distinguished from ailing ones in that the healthy ones lie on their bellies, or lean slightly on their sides, with both their head and rear flippers reaching upward thereby forming a U-shape. Ailing seals, on the other hand, are too weak to do so.

The Foundation received a stranded P. phocoena that could barely swim. It required constant support, in its tank, to keep it from drowning. The following is a brief description of the species:

P. phocoena is the smallest of the cetaceans reaching a length of 5 feet and a weight of only 140 pounds. It ranges from Greenland south to the Gulf of Maine. During the winter they have been known to migrate as far south as North Carolina. Due to their small size and short dive times, they are usually found in shallow water along the continental shelf. They feed primarily on herring (Katona et al., 1993).

Animals that die at the facility, as well as animals that wash up dead and are subsequently picked up by the Foundation, are necropsied to both gain a better understanding of their anatomy and physiology and to determine the cause of death. The necropsy of a female P. vitulina determined that it had died as a result of being shot in the head with a shotgun. An individual was tasked to remove the pellets from the seal's brain. Its head was detached to facilitate this task. A dozen pellets were removed from the brain and skull which, based on the way shotgun pellets spread, was indicative that it was shot at close range. It was found to be within a day or so of pupping (giving birth), and the pup had died inside her. Necropsy tissue preservation was conducted using the same "spin bags" that are commonly used when sampling water for potability analysis; except, instead of having a sodium thiosulfate preservative tablet, the sample bags were partially filled with formalin. The pup was preserved whole in a large jar in the treatment room. For future reference it was indicated that while the umbilical chords of P. vitulina are marked with a striped pattern of dark and light bands, those of cetaceans (i.e. dolphins) are instead polka dotted with small dark spots and such spots are normal and not to be considered the result of post mortem decay.

A necropsy of a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also known as a finback, that had washed up dead on the beach at Smith Point County Park (at the eastern end of Fire Island) was conducted. It had clearly been dead for quite some time, prior to washing ashore, since decay was already well underway, even with the weather being as cold as it was in the dead of winter. Its bony skull had literally popped out of its fleshy head either upon impact with the sandy beach or as result of the crashing waves. It was huge, approximately sixty feet in length. It was indicated that the animal was a youngster, a mere juvenile, and that adults grow up to eighty feet in length and weigh as much as seventy tons. It appeared to be extremely lean and most likely starved to death. Since there appeared to be no damage to its body, it was assumed that it may have died as a result of a much earlier bow collision with a large ship which caused a head injury leaving the whale disoriented and unable to feed.

B. physalus is second in size to the blue whale and it inhabits all oceans. It has a series of 56-100 pleats or grooves on the underside of its body extending from under the lower jaw to the navel. As a baleen whale, instead of having teeth, it has a series of fringed overlapping plates hanging from each side of its upper jaw. These plates consist of a fingernail-like material called keratin that frays out into fine hairs on the ends inside the mouth near the tongue. The plates can measure up to thirty inches in length and twelve inches in width. When feeding, large volumes of water and food are taken into the mouth as the pleated grooves in its throat expand. When it closes its mouth the water is expelled through the baleen plates, which trap the food on the inside near the tongue. It then uses its enormous tongue lick the food off the baleen. They usually feed on krill and schooling fish and can consume up to two tons of food per day.

When whales sleep they go into a dive sequence. This particular individual may have been asleep and may not have seen the ship coming. Unfortunately, its tissue was too necrotic and decomposed to make any sense out of during the necropsy. A long deep trench, near the dunes, was excavated by a payloader, in which to bury the whale. The whale was then cut in half in order to facilitate carrying the heavy carcass to the trench.

The bodies, and associated body parts, of animals which have undergone necropsy at the facility are stored in drums prior to pickup by the Greaseland division of The Moyer Packaging Company (MOPAC). MOPAC processes the carcasses, extracting useful components (i.e. fats) which are then used in the production of cosmetics. Locally, the company is primarily involved in the recycling of waste cooking grease and oils from restaurants (e.g. frying machines).

Body pickup has been described as the most foul smelling of all facility tasks, especially during the heat of the summer, since the contents of the drums has usually had ample time to decompose.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) functions in animal welfare by regulating zoos and other wildlife conservation facilities. One way in which they regulate such facilities is by dictating how much space a member of a particular species, more specifically a given sex of a particular species, requires for permanent housing (e.g. a male C. cristata is larger than and would therefore require more space than a female C. cristata and even more than either sex of the considerably smaller P. vitulina ). The key word is permanent since the APHIS regulations apply to animals that will live the rest of their lives in a given situation. The animals housed at the Foundation, on the other hand, rarely exceeded a stay of six weeks prior to their release. The perfect analogy was presented:

The facility is just that, a hospital for marine wildlife whose patients are admitted and then discharged as quickly as possible.

Due to the APHIS regulations the Foundation was not permitted to continue displaying the seals that had been on display, through the windows of the Visitors' Center, because the size of their living quarters was deemed inadequate. Two larger display tanks were then built to replace the smaller tanks. Unfortunately, according to the APHIS regulations, the new tanks were only suitable for female P. vitulina; therefore, if there were no P. vitulina females on-site, but plenty of other seals to display, the windows of the Visitors' Center were covered with posters to keep the public from viewing the animals housed in those particular tanks. It was indicated that variance from the APHIS regulations could be applied for; however, everyone at the facility was so bogged down with the tasks associated with animal care that they had little, if any, time to prepare such an application.

Other regulatory agencies were also involved in the operations at the Foundation. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) administers the New York State Stranding Program contract and assigns a unique stranding number to each animal stranded. The contract came up for renewal for 1997 and the competition for the contract was well underway in 1996. Both the New York Aquarium and the outfit that the founder of Okeanos was currently involved with placed bids on the contract, however, The Riverhead Foundation prevailed in gaining the contract renewal. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce was involved in approving animals for release.

Overall, the experiences at the Foundation would best be described as extremely rewarding. Unfortunately, everyone was so swamped with all the tasks associated with animal care, that research was basically set aside. Data was constantly being collected, however, and the research associated with the analysis of that data could always be conducted at a later date. The dedication of the staff, volunteers, and interns was nothing short of amazing. Many of which commuted considerable distances (i.e. from the upper west side of Manhattan via the Long Island Rail Road) and worked many long hard hours for the sake of what was frequently referred to as "the mission", the preservation of valuable marine wildlife resources. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of the working environment at the facility was the overwhelming sense of team spirit, where all are working diligently towards a common goal and can count on each other for support. It was once said: Committees never get anything done…only teams get things done. That sums up how the Foundation differs from other working environments. If one is seeking experience in exotic animal care, The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation has much to offer.

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