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Imagine this. A phone call comes
in the middle of a cold winter
night in February. Someone is
reporting a baby seal stranded
on a beach in Cape May Point.
When the rescue team from the
Marine Mammal Stranding Center
in Brigantine (MMSC) arrives,
they find a male seal, slightly
emaciated and dehydrated. The
little guy weighs in at only 37
pounds and measures 38 inches
long. When admitted to the
Brigantine Center, Mr. Seal
could only eat 2-lbs of fish a
day.
One month later,
Mr. Seal is moved out of I.C.U.,
out of the holding tank and into
the swimming pool to strengthen
his muscles and endurance. On
that day, Mr. Seal weighed in at
55 pounds. His release day came
about a month later – April 18
of this year. He was tagged on
his left rear flipper with a #2.
The rescue team drove him up to
his family home in Little
Compton, RI where he was
released weighing in at a
whopping 83 pounds.
That’s pretty much what the
Marine Mammal Stranding Center
does under the direction of Bob
Schoelkopf. And they are the
only ones doing it here in New
Jersey. MMSC is the only
stranding center in the entire
state. Bob, a former Navy man who
served with the Marine Medical Corps, started the center in
1978 along with his equally
dedicated wife Sheila Dean.
Their goal then, as now, is to
rescue, rehabilitate, and
release stranded mammals and sea
turtles.
And what a year it’s been. There
have been 159 strandings for
2005 as of
this writing. Most of which
occurred here in Cape May
County. The reason for Cape May
being the site of so many strandings has to do with size.
We have the largest body of
water – the Atlantic Ocean
combined with the Delaware Bay –
which makes for a perfect
landing area. 2005 has also been
a record year for baby seal
strandings. The reason? Bob
said it could be that the
birthing rate is up and that
this overpopulation could
continue. At one point this past
spring, MMSC had 29 baby Grey
Seals. That’s the highest number
on the east coast. Many animals
had to share a pen, separated by
a baby gate, until some seals
could be released to make room.
The seals are treated for
everything from respiratory
infections to shark attacks to
sunburn due to molting.
There have been other stories in
the news this year as well – a
Beluga Whale visited the
Delaware River in April. Who did
the concerned call? MMSC of
course. The center received a
call one April morning about a
whale swimming around the
northern section of the Delaware
River near Trenton. Identified
as a Beluga Whale, experts were
a bit puzzled. These whales
generally hang out in a more
arctic climate like Vancouver.
 According to an account by Jay
Pagel, MMSC’s senior field
technician, the next morning he
and Bob “trailered” a 19-foot
Zodiac inflatable boat to
Burlington, NJ where they met
the NJ Marine Police. The Zodiac
along with two other boats began
a river search for the Beluga to
evaluate its condition.
Forty-five minutes into the
search they found the Beluga 20
miles south of their location.
During the night the Beluga had
traveled 30 miles south and was
heading north again, not exactly
swimming in circles but pretty
close to it. The search crew
estimated that he appeared
healthy and could maintain a
speed of “over 8 mph for more
than an hour, while swimming
into the current.”
After seeing photos of the
whale, Canadian researchers
identified the Beluga as
“Helis,” first spotted in the St
Lawrence River in 1986 and
thought, at the time, to be
about 5 years old. It is
unhealthy for Belugas, who can
grow up to 15 feet long and
weigh up to 3300 pounds, to swim
in fresh water for longer than
two weeks. Helis had been
surfing the Delaware River for
about a month swimming into the
salt water bay only to return to
the river again. MMSC followed
his progress as did everyone
else along the Delaware Bay
throughout the spring, hoping
Helis would find his way north.
It looks as though this story
has a happy ending. Helis was
last spotted in mid-May by a
fishing boat in the Delaware Bay
heading north.
Had Helis not been healthy, MMSC
would have had a huge problem.
The center is not equipped nor
funded to care for such a large
mammal. In such instances, Bob
must go out of state for help
and, even then, finding a
facility willing to take on that
responsibility is an uphill task
as they discovered in June of
this year when a grampus or
Risso’s
Dolphin stranded on a
remote section of Higbee Beach.
Firefighters from Town Bank Fire
Department were called when the
deep sea dolphin was discovered.
They, in turn, called on the
West Cape May Volunteer Fire
Department to help in the
assist.
This particular Risso’s Dolphin
was nearly 10 feet long and weighed
about 1200 pounds. Firefighters
struggled for four hours to
bring the dolphin ashore
one-quarter of a mile to the Higbee Beach parking lot where
they were met by MMSC’s large
transport truck. In a not so
happy ending, the Risso’s was
euthanized by injection. Bob
Schoelkopf and the center
received heavy criticism from
the firefighters for not
attempting to save the grampus
after they spent so much time
trying to rescue it. According
to Bob, however, a stranded
grampus invariably is very
ill. A subsequent necropsy
showed the grampus had
meningitis. There were other
considerations – mainly the
dolphin’s size. MMSC’s tank, for
example, is 24 feet long. If the
10-foot grampus goes into the
tank, there is very little room
left for other mammals. Attempts
were made to take the Risso’s
dolphin elsewhere but there were
no takers.
The Riverhead Foundation for
Marine Research and Preservation
in Long Island nearly went
bankrupt last year in its
attempt to save a grampus
stranded in Delaware. It cost
$407,000 to rehabilitate the
mammal during its eight month
recovery from a virus. MMSC’s
entire budget is for the year is
$400,000. Another problem is
that the mammal, particularly a
Risso’s, might have diseases
which could infect the other
mammals.
 With all this talk around town
about rescues and strandings, I
decided to pay a visit to the
Brigantine center and meet these
mysterious people. I envisioned
a facility similar to a hospital
and just as big and spiraling.
In fact, I nearly drove right by
it. The Marine Mammal Stranding
Center is on Brigantine Blvd. on
the left, just as you come into
town. It sits back a bit from
the parking lot but you'll know
you're in the right place when
you see the big red
truck sitting in front of the
building with the large white
letters that read Marine Mammal
Stranding Center on the back.
Bob’s wife Sheila greeted me and
suggested I wait outside until
Bob returned.
When not rescuing mammals and
sea turtles, MMSC makes money
educating and lecturing the
public about marine life. The
staff, most of whom are
volunteers, were waiting for a
group of students to arrive.
They busied themselves setting
up the microscopes and slides.
Flora, fauna, amoebae and
eco-systems were topics of
discussion on this cloudy
morning.
Bob soon arrived and we began
our tour of the facilities. The
first thing he showed me was the
rescue truck. Purchased from
Kindle Ford for $55,000 with
money made possible through a
grant, the rescue truck is
designed by Bob to handle most
rescues. The owner of Kindle
Ford, Bill Kindle donates the
 maintenance of all the vehicles
at the center and has often
assisted in providing air
transport for a stranded animal.
The center’s main function is to
try to save seals, sea turtles
and smaller dolphins and assist
with larger rescues. Bob
converted the truck into an
ambulance-like vehicle himself.
The back door of the truck opens
down into a ramp and reveals an
oblong railing running the
length of the truck on the left
side of the interior. A sling
stretcher attaches to the rails
to hold the mammals in place
until they reach their
destination.
After the mammal is picked up,
the procedure is to bring the
stranded animal to the center
where it then goes into ICU,
also designed by Bob. Each
individual unit has a place for
the mammal to flip around or
whatever they do. The units have
their own windows so that no
contaminates are spread airborne
to the other patients.
Bob has also built a kitchen so
the staff can prepare food for
the patients. The "preparation"
comes mostly in the form of
thawing the fish. When the mammals
have recovered they go into a
common area where they regain
their strength. Finally, they
are placed in the pool house so
they can prepare for release.
The pool is filled with water
from the bay, so it is murky in
color. Hard as it is, the staff
try to discourage the seals from
having contact with humans. This
is seen as an essential
component in preparing the seals
for survival once released.
Most of the stranded seals
 are
yearlings (born the previous
spring or summer) and are starving when they are brought
to the center. They are weaned
after one month so much of the
staff’s energy is spent
fattening them up. Once the
seals are healthy and have a
good thick blubber layer, their
flippers are tagged and Bob then
takes them up the coast - mostly
to Cape Cod, Massachusetts -
because their chances of
survival are much better in
colder waters and where there is
little or no chance of human
contact.
There are
many happy endings which you can
read about in MMSC's newsletter
The Blowhole but one of
the staff member told me about
the story of Miss Wildwood
Crest, aka #34. She was stranded
at Wildwood Crest beach, Feb 9
of this year and suffered from a
mild respiratory infection. All
the stranded seals have
parasites and most have
respiratory problems. Miss Crest
also had abrasions on her
flippers and a mucous in her
eyes. She weighed 52 lbs. By the
time of her release date Feb.
22, she weighed 58 lbs and was
feeling just ducky. No weight
watchers for this gal - 12 lbs
of fish a day. Miss Crest was
released at Great Bay, NJ.
I, myself,
want to adopt everyone of the
sad-eyed faces I see in the
photos and newsletter.
I was a little disappointed that
there were no patients for me to
visit that day. July and August
are sea turtle
season. Seal season starts in
the fall. Now is the time when
Bob and the center’s small staff
and loyal volunteers regroup and
repair. Bob’s project for the
day was to re-grout the ICU.
The center will
be looking for a new home in
five years when its lease with
the city of Brigantine expires.
The city has notified MMSC that
they will not be renewing the
lease. Bob’s doesn’t really know
what will happen to the
stranding center then. Currently
MMSC runs with a permit and
authorization from the state and
federal governments. All funding
comes through donations, grants
and membership and fund raising.
 One option, said Bob, is that
the state could take over
operation of MMSC. In that case,
he said, the budget would most
likely double.
Until then, Bob, Sheila and the
crew will be at the helm,
24-hours a day, 7-days a week on
the look out for those who can’t
look out for themselves like Mr.
Loggerhead. Mr.
Loggerhead is a mature sea
turtle found in Cape May a few
weeks back. Weighing
approximately 350lbs, 42.5
inches, he was caught in a
scallop dredge net. At first,
he was reported as dead. After
the initial call by the boat’s
captain, the crew took a closer
look and realized Mr. Loggerhead
was just stunned and very much
still alive. After Marine Mammal
Stranding Technicians responded
and evaluated him he was cleared
for release with the help of the
US Coast Guard. He was taken by
the Coast Guard several miles
off shore and successfully
released.
Don’t forget, you can help. MMSC
offers lots of ways. Contact
Sheila for the center’s wish
list at 609-266-0538.
The wish
list currently includes Pedialyte, (unflavored please)
for seal pups and gift cards for
Staples, Home Depot and Lowes.
Volunteers are always needed to
help fund raise. Stranding
volunteers are needed in Cape
May County -18 or older please.
And you can adopt a seal. Check
out their website:
www.MMSC.org
Seals
photographs courtesy of MMSC |
