The Marine Mammal Center is known for rehabilitating marine animals all along the California coast. Right now, the San Luis Obispo County field office in Morro Bay is in need of more volunteers.
Steve Levine is a volunteer at The Marine Mammal Center. He says when he retired, he was looking for an organization that made an impact on marine life and the environment along the Central Coast.
“They do great things related to the individual animals themselves. They also generate a lot of information that’s used for research to help assess the very species that we deal with, the state of the ocean, the environment in general. It’s an amazing experience to be a part of all that,” Levine said.
He says every day at the center is different.
“We respond to calls that come into the public to stranded marine mammals that are either injured or sick. Our crews head out and rescue those animals, bring them back to the site and, hopefully, during the process, they’re brought back to a healthy enough state that at one point they can be released back to the ocean,”Levine said.
SLO County Field Office Operations Manager Aliah Meza says volunteers are vital to the center’s efforts toward marine mammal rehabilitation and care.
“It’s great to be able to make impact, save these animals' lives and give them a second chance. The people are what really make an impact here. Without our people we couldn’t do the work that we do,” Meza said.
Being a volunteer at The Marine Mammal Center not only helps provide the necessary care for marine mammals in need but it builds bonds between the volunteers and staff.
“We have 18-year-olds to 80-year-olds working with us. We’re working with every age group and every demographic and like-minds who love the ocean and love marine mammals and working with them towards a common goal,” said Shayla Zink, SLO County Field Office Operations Coordinator for The Marine Mammal Center.
According to The Marine Mammal Center, the San Luis Obispo County field office has rescued 120 seals, sea lions and southern sea otters. The Morro Bay facility currently has 130 volunteers but they’re always looking for more.
“The Marine Mammal Center is a nonprofit, so we really depend and rely on our volunteers to be able to do our work that we do,” Meza said.
If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer for the Marine Mammal Center, you can go online to their website to sign up for their interest list.
