Photo by The Telegraph, UK

Dine in style and help marine life at the same time! On January 26th, the Dan’l Webster Inn & Spa will donate 15% of your total food and beverage bill to the National Marine Life Center! You can eat a wonderful breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner and your meal will be even more delicious because you will be supporting NMLC’s marine animal rehabilitation, science, and education programs.

Simply print this flyer and present it to your server.

The Dan’l Webster is at 149 Main Street in Sandwich. Reservations recommended but not required – call 508-888-3622. The fundraiser goes on all day, so you can eat anytime they’re serving. Just remember to print this flyer and give it to your server.

Bon appetit!

~ Make a marine animal ornament and enjoy other holiday-themed activities!
~ Tempt your taste buds with holiday goodies!
~ Meet some of our patients and tour our newly opened marine animal hospital!

$5/person non-members
FREE for members

Event proceeds and gift shop sales benefit NMLC’s marine animal rehabilitation, science, and education programs!

Conceptual drawing of the new seal pool. (c) cosestudi

A Chase Community Giving award would make a real difference.
~ $25,000 would add 2 additional sea turtle pools, allowing us to care for up to 18 additional turtles or 2 seals.
~ $100,000 would add a dedicated seal pool, allowing us to care for up to 4 seals or up to 15 additional turtles or a manatee.
~ $250,000 would add a dolphin pool, allowing us to care for up to 4 dolphins or up to 10 seals or up to 56 additional turtles or 4 manatees.

All pools are designed with flexibility to accommodate other species as needed.

Please help by voting for the National Marine Life Center on Chase Community Giving today! And ask your friends to do so also! The voting deadline is November 22.

On behalf of the animals, thank you!!

PAMS Student Council President and Representative.

Over two thousand miles away from Cape Cod, in the heart of the Navajo Nation, students at the Pinon Accelerated Middle School recently held a talent show to raise money for the National Marine Life Center’s new marine animal hospital.

Stating he “saw a sticker on a box,” one student researched NMLC on the internet and suggested the talent show fundraiser to the Student Council.  Another student cheered “Go turtles!”

PAMS teacher Ms. Kristin Monts

Ms. Monts, the students’ teacher, explained that in the Navajo culture, turtles are very important.  The students wanted to help an organization that helps turtles.  They did the internet research and selected the National Marine Life Center.  During the talent show, one student even brought in a pet turtle as a mascot!

The students read poetry, danced, sang, and played the guitar.  Over the course of an evening, they raised $500 for the National Marine Life Center!  Here is a video the students produced about talent show.

On behalf of our future marine animal patients who will benefit from your donation, thank you students!  You are an inspiration!

Student presenting a reading at the PAMS talent show.

Some of the student talent!

Students dancing in the PAMS talent show.

Students show off their guitar skills!

Announcing the next act!

Another talented musician!

Student checks out the turtle mascot.

It's all about the animals!

You can dine in or take out. Enjoy yummy pizza, fresh salad, or a variety of other mouth-watering dishes including sandwiches, steak, chicken, and seafood. Even beverages! Your meal will be even more delicious knowing that you’re helping save marine animals, advance science, and inspire ocean conservation through education.

A very special thank you to Uno Chicago Grill for this yummy way to raise dough for the National Marine Life Center!

Stranded Kemp's ridley turtle. Photo by Bill Allen, MassAudubon.

The recent cold snap and last weekend’s nor’easter have resulted in the first turtle stranding of the year.  This animal is currently in rehabilitation at the New England Aquarium.  Click here to read it’s story on the New England Aquarium’s Marine Animal Rescue Team Blog.

The Sea Turtle Stranding Network

MassAudubon staff rescuing a loggerhead turtle.

The National Marine Life Center is a partner in the National Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network.  Within the Northeast Region, there are several other partners, each with slightly different responsibilities and all working collaboratively to help cold-stunned sea turtles.  The Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary provides beach response and triage.  The New England Aquarium provides initial medical evaluation and critical care.  And the National Marine Life Center, along with the NOAA Woods Hole Science Aquarium, the University of New England’s Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center at Biddeford, Maine, and the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation in New York, provide on-going rehabilitative care.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversee the stranding network.

Even with all these organizations working in partnership to help, in years with a lot of strandings there isn’t enough rehabilitation space.  When this happens, turtles are sent to Georgia, Florida, or sometimes farther for care.  That’s why we’re so excited to open the first two pools in the National Marine Life Center’s new marine animal rehabilitation hospital!  Each pool has room for up to 9 juvenile Kemp’s ridley turtles, the most common species and age class to strand on Cape Cod.  Or, each pool could fit up to 3 juvenile loggerhead turtles, the second most common to strand around here.  We’re pleased to reopen our doors to sea turtle patients this season.  And, as we raise additional funds, we will put additional pools on-line so we can help more animals.

What To Do If You Find A Stranded Sea Turtle

In the meantime, with turtle stranding season upon us, it’s a good time to remind people what to do if you find a stranded sea turtle in Massachusetts.

DON’T:
~ Don’t put the turtle back in the water.  It needs medical attention.
~ Don’t remove the turtle from the beach.  Special permits and training are required to work with these endangered animals.

DO:
~ Move the turtle above the high tide line.
~ Cover the turtle with dry seaweed, to help it from getting even colder.
~ Mark the turtle’s location with a stick, buoy, or other piece of beach debris so MassAudubon’s rescue volunteers can find it.
~ CALL MassAudubon’s Rescue Hotline at 508-349-2615.  Leave a message with very specific directions and include your contact number so they can call you back if they have questions.

If you live outside of Massachusetts, please click here to find the name of your state sea turtle stranding network coordinator.

Thanks for caring about stranded sea turtles!

A Kemp's ridley turtle in rehabilitation at NMLC.

Thank you, Convention Data Services!

Convention Data Services (CDS), one of the largest private employers on Cape Cod, held a charity golf tournament in memory of its founder. The 5th Annual Douglas J. Fletcher Memorial Golf Tournament took place on September 15th, 2011 at The Brookside Club in Bourne, MA. This year’s tournament exceeded last year’s donation amount, raising $27,000 to benefit the National Marine Life Center, an organization strongly supported by Mr. Fletcher. Raffle co-sponsors onPeak and CDS provided the Grand Prize—a 3-night stay at any Marriot Hotel located in the Americas and airfare for two.

Karen, John, Sue, Ken, and Peter check out the DJF Sea Turtle & Seal Rehabilitation Pool.

Convention Data Services’ Golf Committee, led by newly appointed President & CEO, John Kimball, presented the donation check to Kathy Zagzebski, President & Executive Director of the National Marine Life Center on Friday, October 14, 2011 at the center’s headquarters in Buzzards Bay, MA. They also checked out the “Douglas J. Fletcher Memorial Sea Turtle & Seal Rehabilitation Pool”, newly open to sea turtle patients.

Click here for additional photos and a list of sponsors.

For over two decades, Convention Data Services has been providing state-of-the-art registration, database management, exhibitor lead retrieval services and event marketing to the tradeshow industry, serving the needs of businesses and non-profit associations. For the 4th consecutive year, the company was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the country.

Beyond their professional accolades, we appreciate CDS because it’s a wonderful local company with an ethic of supporting their community.  Their staff are fun and genuinely helpful, always willing to lend advice and ideas as well as their time.  Thank you, Convention Data Services!

Golfers scramble to get into position for a shotgun start!

There's nothing like playing for a good cause!

Mola mola basking at surface. The dorsal fin tip is often the only part of the fish spotted from the shore. Photo by New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance.

We’ve been getting a number of calls reporting something flopping around in the water, appearing injured, possibly about to strand.  The animals have been reported as entangled sea turtles, sharks, seals, and fish.  Lately, what these fluttering creatures turn out to be is an “Ocean Sunfish.” Ocean sunfish , or Mola, are large, silvery, disc-shaped fish with long dorsal and anal fins, very tiny pectoral fins, an enormous head, and almost no tail.  The “something flopping” frequently reported is the Mola’s tall, pointed dorsal fin waving above the water when the animal is in its normal, vertical swimming position.  Sometimes on a sunny day you can see these fish lying horizontally at the surface, basking in the sun – hence the name “sunfish”.

There are three species of ocean sunfish, all in the Family Molidae.  The round-tailed or common mola (Mola mola) is the species most frequently seen around Cape Cod.  The other two species are the sharp-tailed mola (Masturus lanceolatus) and the slender mola (Ranzania laevis).  All three species are found in temperate and tropical waters world-wide, usually in deeper water.  They prefer water over 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius).

This photo of a Mola and snorkeler shows the scale of these enormous fish. Photo by OceanSunfish.org.

The common mola is very large, reaching on average 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) in length, 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in height, and 1,000 kg (2,200 pounds) in weight.  They hold the record for the world’s heaviest bony fish with one specimen that was 3.1 meters (10 feet) long and 2,235 kg (4,927 pounds) (Source: Carwardine 1995 via oceansunfish.org).

Sunfish primarily feed on jellyfish.  Their diet also includes salp, squid, crustaceans, small fish, fish larvae, and even eel grass.  They feed at all levels of the water column.  Perhaps they have been sighted nearshore recently because they were following the food….

The New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA) tracks local ocean sunfish sightings and also responds to stranded animals.
If you see an ocean sunfish, please complete this NECWA sightings form:
http://nebshark.org/report_a_sunfish_sighting.html
If you find a stranded ocean sunfish, live or dead, please:
call NECWA at 508-566-0009.

For more information on ocean sunfish….
New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance
OceanSunfish.org
Wikipedia

And, just for the kids:
Mola Coloring Sheet, (c) Kristen Carlson, Fathom It Productions, via OceanSunfish.org
Easy Origami Ocean Sunfish, via www.origami-instructions.com

Mola mola. Photo by NOAA.

Sarah has been volunteering at National Marine Life Center since December 2010 in the animal care department and joined the staff as the new Marine Science Instructor in September 2011. Sarah comes to us from The Trustees of Reservations, where she served roles as the Interim Superintendent of Chappaquiddick Properties, Southeast Region Education Manager, and currently in her part time position as Islands Education Coordinator and director of the Claire Saltonstall Education Program. Sarah volunteers with the New England Aquarium as a marine animal stranding field volunteer, and also helped out at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium for a 5 month period during the spring of 2011 preparing sea turtle, seal, and fish diets for their aquarist staff. Sarah’s educational and animal care experiences also draw from her work at Zoo Atlanta where she was employed in the education department as a lead animal care specialist in the Wings of Wonder free-flighted bird show. Prior to her move to Zoo Atlanta, Sarah spent a number of years working as a wildlife assistant in an education & rehabilitation center in New Hampshire. Sarah holds a BS in Environmental Biology/Marine Science from Plymouth State University, and currently lives on Martha’s Vineyard with her husband Jeff, and son Taylor.

The National Marine Life Center is a beneficiary of the Cape Cod Charitable Fundraiser’s annual “Spectacle of the Trees”. Our tree, entitled “Seaside Yuletide”, is beautifully decorated with an ocean theme. It comes complete with over $7,000 worth of gifts underneath.

Gifts include: 2 round-trip JetBlue airline tickets, 4 Walt Disney World Park Hopper tickets,  a 2 day/2 kayak rental from Eastern Mountain Sports, a SCUBAPRO regulator combo, a Patagonia primo down jacket, an Eagle’s Nest Outfitters double nest hammock, a limited edition Guy Harvey print, the 2011 American Girl doll of the year (Kanani), a South African safari from Nomad Adventure Tours, a custom surf board from Chino Surf Boards, an Indonesian dive trip from Reef and Rainforest, a two-night stay in Pennsylvania or New Jersey from the Bluegreen Corporation, two pair of KTS steel crampons and two pair of microspikes from Kahtoola, a two-night stay in Florida at a Sunstream Hotel, a family portrait session from the Studio by the Sea, two lift tickets for Saddleback Mountain, a ceramic whale tile from Bliss Ceramic Studios, four Boston walking tour tickets from Boston by Foot, two $25 gift certificates for Mezza Luna restaurant in Buzzards Bay, reusable bags from Reusit.com, a turtle bag and hat from Bungalow 360, a $25 gift card from Catania Hospitality Group, ten passes for the Swan Boats of Boston, a $20 gift card from Gourmet Gift Baskets, a sea turtle rehabilitation calendar from Barb Bergwerf, a $10 gift certificate from Build-A-Bear Workshop, a four person tent and two sleeping bags from the Coleman Company, items from Red Top Sporting Goods.

“Tree Bucks” tickets are available on-line for $11.54, which includes our on-line fees. If you prefer, you may purchase tickets for $10 at the National Marine Life Center (120 Main Street, Buzzards Bay) or at the Spectacle of the Trees Event (JFK Museum, Hyannis). All proceeds from this tree benefit the National Marine Life Center and will help us care for endangered sea turtles this winter.

You can see the tree at the JFK Museum in Hyannis on
Saturday, December 3, 10am-8pm
Sunday, December 4, 12-4pm
Friday, December 9, 12-8pm
Saturday, December 10, 10am-7:30pm
The tree drawing will be held at 7:30 pm on December 10.

If you have questions, comments, or items to donate for the tree, please contact Kate at 508-743-9888 x307 or kshaffer@nmlc.org.