NY Marine Rescue Center

We are in the single digits!! Only 9 more days till our 30th anniversary! Whenever our team goes out to a response, they conduct a swift health assessment of the animal. Here our biologist is examining a harp seal. The scientific name of a harp seal is Pagophilus groenlandicus, which literally translates to “ice lover from Greenland”! 🧊Harp seals are an arctic seal species found in the Northwest Atlantic region but frequent New England and New York as well.

These seals tend to go catatonic when scared or stressed. It is also common for them to eat ice for hydration, however, in the warmer regions where there is little to know ice, they unfortunately are known for eating sand and rocks in situations of stress.

This is just one of the many reasons a quick health assessment is so important. Keeping a safe distance helps reduce stress and allows the animal to rest while trained responders assess the situation. If you see a seal on the beach, please admire it from a distance and never attempt to touch, move, or return it to the water. Our team will look for signs of dehydration, injury, illness, and other indicators that help determine the best course of action for each animal. Every response is different, and every animal deserves a careful look. 🦭💙

We are racing to the finish line! Only 10 days to go! We have our 29th Annual Run for the Ridley 5k coming up on Saturday October 17th! Here is a throwback picture to our 20th annual race in 2017! Come see if you’re faster than a sea turtle and join us on October 18th! 🐢💨🏃‍♀️

Are you faster than a turtle? 🐢💨

Put it to the test at our 5K Run for the Ridley on Saturday October 17th! Right now you have the chance to win two FREE entries!

Want to join the race and enter the giveaway?

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3. Tag a friend you want to race
Lace up, pick your pace, and let’s see if you can outrun our favorite ocean friends! 🐢🏃🏼‍♀️🏁

11 more days! Today we are highlighting a special case, Gray Beauty. Gray Beauty, a female gray seal, first stranded in East Hampton on April 30th 1997. Biologists at our organization responded to her and found that she had excessive tissue damage in both the right and left eyes. She was permanently blind and thus deemed unreleasable. In 2001, Gray Beauty was moved to the Long Island Aquarium seal habitat. Gray Beauty can be seen today in the LIAQ seal habitat outside! She has mastered over 50 behaviors including spinning in the water and shaking hands! Come visit us and say hi to Gray Beauty! 🦭💙

Have you ever wanted to work with critically endangered sea turtles? 🐢 Do you enjoy conservation education and outreach? 🌎 Then apply for our winter college internship program! ❄️ Help support NYMRC’s efforts in rescuing and rehabilitating marine mammals and sea turtles and promoting education across Long Island! Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply! Learn more and apply: https://nymarinerescue.org/education/

The countdown continues, 12 more days! Did you know you can take a cruise with NYMRC? For many years we have had wonderful volunteers lead whale and seal cruises for the public! On these cruises you can see whales, sharks and dolphins!! 🐬 🐋🦈

The count down continues! Meet Chestnut, NYMRC’s resident green sea turtle! Chestnut has been with after stranding on Jones Beach in 2010. Chestnut was struck by a boat while she was cold stunned which resulted in trauma to her carapace. Because of the strike she developed buoyancy issues called “bubble butt”. Due to this she is unable to dive and swim properly, so she now is a full time resident in our facility! Chestnut receives physical therapy to help with her buoyancy and mobility. She also receives lots of love (and her favorite food, lettuce) from our biologists and volunteers! To help support sea turtles like Chestnut visit our website: https://nymarinerescue.org 🐢💚