National Marine Mammal Foundation

Animal Health & Welfare—Preventing, detecting, and treating disease in marine mammals and enhancing animal welfare through medicine and research.

The NMMF recognizes the great privilege and responsibility in working with animals under human care. Providing direct care to marine mammals allows us the opportunity to learn about their species in ways not possible in the wild. These lessons are then applied to wild animal populations in an effort to promote species conservation of marine mammals around the world.

The NMMF strives to advance health and welfare for all marine mammals. We often launch new efforts by examining cutting-edge research and medical advances made in human and veterinary medicine that could be applied to marine mammal medicine. We collaborate with world-renowned experts and facilities to help reach our goals. We develop, test, and validate diagnostic tools; accurately and rapidly detect disease; and characterize the health status of marine mammal communities.

Education & Outreach—Inspiring minds through marine mammal science.

Our community outreach programs highlight NMMF discoveries about marine mammals to promote creative thinking and inspire greater commitment to the conservation of marine mammals and habitats. We partner with organizations and institutions, allowing outreach programs to reach a broad audience. We engage students in underserved communities.

Online Learning: Our online learning brings signature workshops to life by providing access to curriculum resources and materials to be used by schools and community groups.

Education Workshops: As part of our commitment to education, the NMMF developed a series of workshops that focus on important topics in the marine mammal scientific community.

Internships: The Animal Care and Training Internship with the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program gives undergraduate students a dynamic educational experience in the marine mammal field while offering valuable career experience.

A Collaborative, Community-Based Approach to the Conservation of Small Cetaceans—The NMMF is committed to working collaboratively with local partners on bold solutions, not bound by traditional practices, to conserve species and improve ecosystems globally.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) sounded the alarm for a broader, more integrated approach to conservation of at-risk small cetaceans. The extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin and the catastrophic decline of the vaquita porpoise were noted examples of why waiting too long to consider all conservation options should be avoided.

The NMMF launched Operation GRACE. By leveraging our team’s veterinary and conservation medicine expertise, we apply our unique veterinary perspective to holistic conservation programs targeted at threatened and endangered marine mammals, their ecosystems, and the human communities that depend on them.

Biologic & Bioacoustics Research—Performing basic research that enhances overall understanding of the biology of marine mammals with the goal of improving species conservation.

The Biologic and Bioacoustic Research program performs fundamental research on the biology of marine mammals, including their behavior, physiology, and ecology, with the goal of mitigating human impacts and improving the conservation of marine mammal species. Research is also conducted to better understand how certain types of human activity affects marine mammals.

The results of these studies tie directly into NMMF's conservation efforts. The information is made readily available through publications in scientific journals, presentations at scientific meetings, outreach to communities, and through NMMF social media. Members of the Biologic and Bioacoustic Research group also engage with federal regulators to ensure they are informed of the latest science relevant to marine mammal conservation and management.

Environmental Stewardship—Facilitating assessments of the impact that human actions have on the ocean environment, particularly impacts to marine mammals.

The Environmental Stewardship Program develops and facilitates Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements, and other technical documents required by agencies for activities that may impact the ocean environment. The program creates sustainable solutions, maximizes environmental benefits, and develops plans to mitigate environmental impacts. The program ensures projects comply with federal, state, local, and tribal regulations, such as the Endangered Species.

Current Efforts—The Environmental Stewardship Program is working with the U.S. Navy to assess potential noise impacts from its training exercises in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The program is assessing the potential impact of noise-producing military activities on the endangered Cook Inlet Beluga whale, its habitat, and its prey.

Animal Care & Training—Proudly caring for marine mammals and providing expertise in marine mammal care, behavior, and welfare.

Our team of animal care experts has extensive experience training unique behaviors in a multitude of complex environments while providing animals with the highest quality of care. As we strive to continually improve and advance our approaches and techniques, we are in turn advancing and informing the methods utilized in the conservation of wild populations.

A Truly World Class Team—Our Animal Care and Training team members come from diverse backgrounds but have one thing in common, a shared passion for the animals we are fortunate to work with every day.

Ocean Partners—By building positive relationships, we partner with the marine mammals in an open ocean environment. Our animal training techniques, applied in open ocean settings, enable groundbreaking research to better understand and protect marine mammals all over the world.