CARRABASSETT VALLEY – The Carrabassett Valley Public Library is hosting a virtual Marine Mammals of Maine presentation, A Seal’s Journey, 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18.
Join Marine Mammals of Maine (MMoME) as they take you through a seal’s journey from stranding to release, and all of the obstacles in between. Starting with seal basics such as: whether it’s normal for them to be out of the water and why you might see a baby on its own, and then dive into when and why seals need our help. You will learn what MMoME is, what they do, the animals they care for, and how you can help.
It will include photos, videos, and information about the vital work that we do, and how others can get involved and help us and these animals.
Librarian Andrea DeBiase is invites you to this scheduled Zoom meeting. To join the Zoom meeting, go to: https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/89690905010?pwd=UmIwWHQ2MHc4TUVKaGZOdFkvTGxvUT09. Meeting ID: 896 9090 5010
Marine Mammals of Maine is a fast growing non-profit organization dedicated to marine mammal and sea turtle response, rescue, care, research and education. We started up in 2011 and took over marine response after UNE’s program shut down in 2014. We respond to stranded marine animals from Kittery to Rockland. Mostly seals (300 this last year), sometimes whales, and sea turtles. We have a triage center in Harpswell where we can bring the animals that need medical attention. We stabilize them for up to four days before transporting them to a rehabilitation center out of state (since Maine hasn’t had one since UNE). We now have a rehab license and officially released our first two seal patients back to the ocean in October of 2017.
We are working really hard to spread the word about what we do and how others can get involved, even if we can’t speak to groups in person. One of the biggest issues we come across is human interaction with these animals, and all of this could be remedied by spreading the knowledge on how to properly react to these animals. With more people probably excited to finally spend some time on the beach, our message is even more important now. We are hoping for more of the public to be aware of us so we can respond to more animals, and in the near future expand our facility so we can care for more animals long term.
Find more information at our website: https://mmome.org/
