Breaking News: Your Gift Matched!
Your life-saving gift will be matched dollar for dollar, so you can DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT! (From July 18 through Friday, July 22, 2016, up to $5,000).
We Need a Truck!
Running lean with only two staff and many incredible volunteers, Ke Kai Ola, our Hawaiian monk seal hospital, has only one vehicle which has reached the end of its natural life. With your support for a new truck, we can transport emaciated, ill, and injured monk seals to Ke Kai Ola, as well as supporting all aspects of this vital conservation program, including volunteer response, and transporting veterinarians and equipment.
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How You Can Help!
Our response range in Hawaii spans 4,000 miles of diverse terrain. Our heavy-duty trucks are often driven in extreme conditions along the winding, hilly coastline.
The vehicles need to be sturdy enough to carry one or more monk seals weighing up to 500 pounds, and their crates.
Please help us make sure every Hawaiian monk seal can get the help it needs by helping us buy a new truck! Each truck costs approximately $40,000, and all donations will directly benefit the Hawaiian monk seals at Ke Kai Ola hospital.
Survival of a Species
The Hawaiian monk seal ("ilioholoikauaua" or "dog running in the rough seas") has lived in Hawaiian waters since before the Big Island of Hawai'i emerged.
The seal is one of only two mammal species endemic to Hawaii and was subject to rapid local extinctions upon the arrival of the first humans, similar to what happened to many bird species. Records from old Hawaiian newspapers reveal that up to 15,000 monk seals may have lived in the Hawaiian Islands prior to western contact in 1778. By the mid-1800s they were hunted nearly to extinction.
Hawaiian Monk Seals at Risk of Extinction
The Hawaiian monk seal population has declined at a rate of 3 to 4% per year over the past decade, recently reaching a low of 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals left in existence, due to past hunting, habitat loss, overfishing, marine debris, and other negative human interactions.
Moreover, a newborn monk seal has only a
one-in-five chance of surviving to adulthood. This is dismal news for a species found only in Hawaii that has been in existence for approximately 15 million years!
It's clear what's at stake here--we hope you can help us make a profound difference!
Climate Change, Pollution, Overfishing
Hawaii is known as the 'extinction capital of the world,' because of the decimation of many of its living species, which includes many indigenous plants and coral life.
Human-caused hazards like net and fishing line entanglements, gun shots, and boat strikes impact these helpless animals, and enhancing monk seal response is a vital component of strengthening our monk seal conservation effort.
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Who We Are
Established in 1975 in California, The Marine Mammal Center rescues and rehabilitates more sick, injured, and orphaned marine mammals every year than any other marine mammal organization in the world.
With more than 21,000 animals rescued, everything we have learned about marine mammals in our 41-year history has helped us become experts in how to care for species that are at risk of extinction.
The Center is the only organization authorized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to rescue sick and injured animals that strand along 600 miles of California coast and rehabilitate Hawaiian monk seals in the Hawaiian archipelago.
At The Marine Mammal Center, we are guided and inspired by a shared vision of a healthy ocean for marine mammals and humans alike. We learn from patients in our care and contribute to scientific understanding of the changing health of our ocean, taking action to address ocean threats and save endangered species.
Our work in Hawaii would not be possible without people like you!
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Other Ways You Can Help
It is critical that we fund a new rescue truck
to continue this important work. Please help spread the word. Share on social media, and share again!
It’s easy using the Indiegogo share
tools.
You may contact us or mail donations to:
Attn: Elysha Kensinger
The Marine Mammal Center
2000 Bunker Rd.
Sausalito, CA 94965
www.TheMarineMammalCenter.org
T: 415-754-4057
Every healthy animal is crucial to the species' survival and long-term recovery -- thank you for your support!
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