HARPSWELL

Local nonprofit group Marine Mammals of Maine has finally found a new home, as they will be celebrating the opening of a triage center in Harpswell this Sunday.

The organization currently responds to and assists stranded marine animals along Maine’s coast, working to protect and support marine animals as defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

In the past, MMoME had partnered with the University of New England for their services until 2014 when the college announced they would be closing down their rehabilitation facilities for marine animals.

Since then, the organization has been busy working to recover from these changes and continue their mission. Establishing a triage center has been a significant first step, as the center will help stabilize marine animals before they are transported to outside rehabilitation centers in Cape Cod and Connecticut.

“By having this triage center, we’ll be able to stabilize animals, which we were not able to do before,” said Lynda Doughty, executive director of MMoME. “Before, there were a lot of animals not making those transports because (by) taking them off the beach and sending them straight down, they were just not stable enough to handle that.”

The organization typically receives 3,000 calls a year through their 24/7 hot line, while they care for about 300 individual animals starting in the spring with a team of about 75 volunteers.

This year, Doughty said their first, stranded harbor seal pup was reported on Earth Day, and was successfully transported to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut this past Monday.

“This kind of treatment fills a critical gap in our network. With seal pupping season just around the corner, the timing couldn’t be better,” said Mendy Garron, a marine mammal stranding coordinator from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in a press release.

The Harpswell location also places the group in the middle of their response region, which includes 2,500 miles of coastline and islands. Doughty said the pups tend to show up more along the rocky coastline, though as they grow older, they appear more in southern locations.

“So they kind of cover each area depending on the time of the year and the season. They make us work for it,” she said with a chuckle.

According to Doughty, the center is also “the first one on the East Coast of its kind,” and one of the first centers to follow the new guidelines established by NOAA.

“We wanted this facility as soon as University of New England closed their doors, but it takes time and preparation to make this happen,” Doughty said. “We want to be able to offer the services, and there’s more to it than just a triage center. We do public education and we do outreach and research on the animals that we respond to, so there’s more to what we do. But we know that this service is needed more as human attractions and activity along our coastline happens.”

The organization doesn’t just plan on stopping here, however.

“ We’ll be able to start making plans for a longterm facility here in Maine, but we needed to at least make this first step first,” Doughty said. “And we realize it’s going to be time and money.”

While the Harpswell center could be possibly transformed into a full-time center in the future, she said water usage at the current building would need to be evaluated first.

“It’s going to take some more conversations for what we’re going to need for the long term,” she said.

“I’m really excited about us reaching these next steps, not only for the animals, but for our organization and being the only place to provide this in Maine,” Doughty said.

The open house will take place this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a brief ceremony at noon. The triage center is located on 3 Farr Lane in Harpswell.

dkim@timesrecord.com

The numbers

• MARINE MAMMALS of Maine typically receives 3,000 calls a year through their 24/7 hot line, while they care for about 300 individual animals starting in the spring with a team of about 75 volunteers.