Toni the Turtle, by Arnold Desmarais. Minimum bid $800.

Cape Cod painter Arnold Desmarais loves the sea.  His well-known seascapes reflect the beauty and diversity of the coast.

A strong believer in giving back to the community, Mr. Desmarais was the first artist to donate work to the National Marine Life Center’s “Art for the Seas” event.  Wanting to contribute something special to this first annual art auction to help stranded marine animals on Cape Cod, Mr. Desmarais painted a piece entitled “Toni the Turtle” just for the occasion.

Art lovers and turtle aficionados alike are invited to bid on this one-of-a-kind painting.  The work will be auctioned at Art for the Seas on September 26.  Minimum bid $800.  For event tickets and information, click here.

Open 10-5 daily through Labor Day.

Laura, Amanda, and Jackie get the seal display ready for visitors.

A newly reorganized Marine Animal Discovery Center opened today. Featuring marine animal specimens and displays about rescue, rehabilitation, and release, the Discovery Center teaches visitors about marine wildlife conservation.

A small gift shop offers eco-friendly and fair trade gifts and souvenirs, as well as educational toys and books.  All proceeds from the gift shop support NMLC’s rehabilitation, science, and education programs.

Laura checks out the new t-shirt designs.

Daily education programs during July and August offer additional ways for children of all ages to learn about marine animals.  For more information about our summer programming, click here.

We are pleased to welcome back the “Discovery Center Dream Team” – a fabulous group of students who are excited to welcome visitors and teach them about marine animals, strandings, rehabilitation, and the National Marine Life Center!  The “Dream Team” includes:

Laura Orca, Jackie Turtle, and Amanda Seal.

Discovery Center manager Laura Doucette is a junior at Johnson and Wales University majoring in International Hotel and Tourism Management.  Her customer service skills are evident whenever visitors walk in the door!  Laura started at NMLC as a youth volunteer helping with education, animal care, and the Discovery Center.  This is her third year as Discovery Center staff.

Discovery Center manager Jackie Niles just graduated with a marine biology degree from the University of Rhode Island.  Visitors appreciate her knowledge of and passion for marine animals as she shares information with everyone who walks in!  Jackie started at NMLC as a volunteer and then was an education intern.  This is her second year as Discovery Center staff.

Discovery Center manager Amanda Chilson is a junior majoring in biology at Roger Williams University.  She is very knowledgable about the ocean and marine animals and eager to share what she knows with visitors!  Amanda started at NMLC last year as a summer education intern.  This is her first year as Discovery Center staff.

Jackie, Laura, and Amanda check out the sea turtle display.

"Lavender" is a Kemp's ridley sea turtle. Kemp's ridleys are the most critically endangered sea turtle in the world. Since admitting our first Kemp's ridley patient in 2005, NMLC has cared for 19 of this species.

Today is Endangered Species Day.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service observes Endangered Species Day “…in order to recognize the national conservation effort to protect our nation’s endangered species and their habitats.”

We’d like to recognize the 74 endangered and threatened species that the National Marine Life Center has cared for over the past six years.  Our mission to rehabilitate marine animals is especially compelling when considering endangered species.  The population numbers of endangered species are so low that every individual matters in that population.  Each individual we can rehabilitate or headstart and release back into the wild helps their population recover.

Fletcher is a loggerhead sea turtle. Currently listed as "threatened", loggerheads' population numbers in the US have continued to decline and they are being proposed for uplisting to "endangered" status. Since accepting our first patient, "Eco", in 2004, NMLC has cared for 2 loggerheads.

Please donate to the National Marine Life Center and help us open our new marine animal hospital so we can save more endangered and threatened marine animals.  Every gift matters.  Thank you.

Northern red-bellied cooters are listed as "threatened" on the federal endangered species list and "endangered" at the state level. NMLC participates in a state-managed "head start" program that has increased hatchling survivability by over 90%. Because of our veterinary expertise, we are often asked to care for animals from the headstart program that need medical attention. Since becoming a partner in the head start program, NMLC has cared for 37 cooters.

Patty is a diamond-backed terrapin listed as "threatened" within Massachusetts. NMLC helps terrapin researchers by overwintering hatchlings and rehabilitating sick turtles. Since admitting our first diamond-backed terrapin in 2008, NMLC has cared for 16 terrapins.

“December 29, 2009

“Friends,

“Our family decided many years ago that we would step decisively away from the commercial aspects of Christmas.  We agreed that we would no longer give each other individual gifts, but instead we would dedicate the cash saved to causes which call to all of us.  This has turned out to be a much more gratifying way to celebrate the spirit of the season.

“This year, in the days leading up to Christmas, we read, in the Cape Cod Times, of the shortfall which is keeping your building project from coming to completion.  We were especially concerned, knowing how many turtles are depending upon you – right now.  These turtles appear on our neighborhood beaches, and we’ve known many of them personally.  We have decided that we want to make a small gift in support of the goal of opening the “turtle ward” as soon as possible.  We wish that we might offer a larger sum – but these are bracing times for humans as well.

“May your efforts proceed with all due speed.  Many thanks for all your efforts on behalf of sentient beings.”

Photo by National Geographic.

As this week’s United Nations Convention on Climate Change wraps up in Copenhagen, I thought it would be worthwhile to consider the effects of climate change on sea turtles.

According to the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, who recently completed a report on the topic and presented it in Copenhagen, sea turtles are impacted by climate change in three ways.

1) Rising ocean levels. Rises in ocean levels reduce the amount of beach on which sea turtle females can nest.

2) Increasing temperatures.  Whether or not a sea turtle egg develops into a male or female depends on the temperature at which the egg incubates.  Warmer temperatures create more females.  If there aren’t enough males, the population cannot survive.  At the hottest temperatures, eggs won’t hatch at all.

3) Changes to ocean currents.  When ocean currents change, sea turtles may be thrown far out of their habitat and may be unable to return to feed or nest.

For the full report from Sea Turtle Restoration Project, click here.

Photo by Doug Perrine.

IFAW rescuing a common dolphin. NECN photo.

Over the past several weeks, Cape Cod has been inundated by stranded, cold-stunned sea turtles in what is being described as one of the largest years to date.  Now, the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Marine Mammal Rescue and Research group reports that dolphin strandings are also on the rise.  In the past week they’ve had 15 stranded dolphins, and that number is only expected to increase.

Video by NECN.

The National Marine Life Center urgently needs your help to complete our hospital and open our sea turtle ward to stranded animals.  Once the turtle ward is complete, we will add seal and dolphin pools so we can help these larger animals as well.  Please give today.  And thank you.

NMLC’s new marine animal hospital will have two dolphin pools, each large enough for 2-4 animals.  Conceptual drawing by cosestudi.

The National Marine Life Center’s tree features Kemp’s ridley sea turtles – the most endangered sea turtle in the world, and harp seals – a species that has also been dramatically impacted by humans. Both species are animals NMLC has rehabilitated and released. Our new marine animal hospital, currently under construction, will allow us to care for more turtles, seals, as well as dolphins, porpoises, and small whales.

Proceeds from the sale of this tree will help NMLC build our new hospital and care for stranded sea turtles and seals during 2010. Please visit the library and bid on our tree!

Many thanks to NMLC Trustee Lauren Freed and volunteer Lynn Garcia for donating the ornaments and decorating a beautiful tree!

Please also pass this along to all of your friends.  The two minutes it takes to add this toolbar to your browser can make a lifetime of difference to stranded sea turtles and other marine animals in distress!

Get the toolbar NOW and help raise money for incoming sea turtles!
http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/national-marine-life-center-nmlc

A new anatomic drawing and description of Orchidasma amphiorchis from the loggerhead sea turtle will help us identify the unknown parasites from the Kemp’s ridley which is previously not know to host this species.  Additional studies are on-going.