The New York Marine Rescue Center is a non-profit organization whose mission is to rescue and rehabilitate stranded marine mammals and sea turtles, as well as to educate the public and conduct research. As part of their marine conservation efforts, they also conduct research on the species they rescue, and offer education opportunities to schools and the general public. Because all four sea turtle species living in New York waters are endangered, the Center has been increasingly focusing their efforts on sea turtles. And they play a prominent role in local rescue and rehabilitation efforts; their rehabilitation center for sea turtles and marine mammals is currently the only one in New York State.
While I don’t have a direct connection to the New York Marine Rescue Center, its efforts are still very important to me. Like many people, I have always cared deeply about the environment and conservation efforts, and as the climate changes around us, and because of us, these issues have become more and more important for the public to lend support to.
The NYMRC is based in Riverhead, NY. Since its founding in 1996, it has rescued over 3900 animals. It has staff always on duty, and helps respond to the NY state stranding hotline. They respond to calls about anything from seals to small toothed whales, dolphins to porpoises. Because the seal population in the Northeast Atlantic has become relatively stable, the Center recently changed their direction to become especially focused on sea turtles. There are four species that live in NY waters: the green sea turtle, loggerhead, leatherback, and Kemp’s Ridley; all are either threatened or endangered. Along with rescuing and rehabilitating the animals, the Center also conducts research by tagging and tracking them when they release them into the wild, to obtain valuable information about the species population. This data can be used to further our understanding about many aspects of the species, like lifespan, reproductive seasons, illness, migration patterns, and environmental disturbances.
The NYMRC offers many opportunities for others to get involved. The public is always invited to come and watch releases, which builds community engagement and support for their cause. They have many volunteers on-site and offer volunteer opportunities like their regular beach clean ups. They also offer education opportunities to schools and the general public, like presentations, lectures, behind-the-scenes tours of their rescue center and hospital, and pollution labs; and they have a junior volunteer program for ages 12-15. All these programs enable people, especially kids, to get involved, can give them meaningful experiences, and even inspire to want to continue being involved in environmental conservation or find other ways to give back to their community.
While not all rescues can be saved, this organization’s efforts have still been hugely successful and saved a good portion of their rescues. As the climate changes, strandings of marine animals like sea turtles have been increasing, and conservation efforts like the NYMRC’s become increasingly valuable and important. Marine animals are paying the price of human recklessness, so it’s our responsibility to try and do what we can to help them and try and ameliorate the effects of our own species’ mistakes. One of the best ways we can do so is to lend our support to organizations like the NYMRC. These animals are beautiful, integral parts of their ecosystem and are worth saving.
I really enjoyed reading this charity pitch. This blog definitely stood out to me as it covers a completely unique and different realm, in marine life conservation. I too definitely think that this is a topic that needs serious attention. Though I often tend to see a decent amount of posts regarding such matters via social media, I rarely see actual actions and progress being made. It has always seemed to me as if people will advocate for the issues, but don’t end up stepping up and working at it in the real world. Perhaps they don’t have the means to do so. Thus, it was nice to see your research regarding the New York Marine Rescue Center, and the work they have done. The fact that they have rescued over 3900 animals since their founding in 1996 was a statistic that really jumped out to me, proving that they are backing up their beliefs with action. Also, the tagging and tracking research that takes place at the center really stood out to me as a very intelligent use of their efforts, as they can obtain more information regarding the animals.
ReplyDeleteComing from Long Island, it was also interesting to see that the center was based in Riverhead. It made me wonder how I have not heard about it before, but as I thought about the aquarium in the area as well, it was not as surprising to hear about the location.
Personally, one idea that became very prominent in my mind as I read through this pitch was how the sea pollution rates directly tie into the endangerment of these animals. This is another idea that I see often advocated for online, and I think that it goes hand in hand with the endangerment of marine life. Littering and polluting are actions that I cannot stand to see, and unfortunately in today’s world, there is a lot of it. It is a no-brainer that we are seeing many marine wildlife in danger. To tie this directly in with the sea turtles that the center aims to protect, it is globally estimated that, “approximately 52% of all sea turtles have eaten plastic”, (WWF). I think the center is doing great work with the rescues and research, but by being more considerate, and cutting out pollution, there hopefully won't be so many animals in danger.
I think this is an awesome idea mostly due to the fact you usually don’t see a plethora of efforts being done to help marine life. While it is important to support those who are in need of resources they cannot get access to, it is also important to tend to animals and marine life who are struggling to access important resources. In addition to that, I also believe that many animals are struggling to survive in our growing human dominated world. This particular organization has the potential to help and protect those animals, and in specific, the marine life. Considering they don’t have a voice, I think it is especially admirable when people go above and beyond to ensure animals and marine life are taken care of.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is interesting that they also conduct research. Research could pose to be incredibly important for marine life because it could help us better understand their needed resources, and then how to further help them. By including children in the efforts I think it could greatly benefit not only the children now, but children and other adults later on in life. They learn the importance of helping our ecosystems, and how truly vulnerable they are.
I also do not have any direct connections with marine life efforts, but I agree with you that it is incredibly important to get involved in these particular efforts.
I really liked this charity pitch! Even though you didn't have a special connection to the organization, I appreciate how you addressed this by talking about how we all care for the environment and what happens to these vulnerable animals. I also liked your organization, the New York Marine Research Center a lot. I thought it was positive that they are so transparent, telling you how their budget breaks down, how many employees they have, and other information that helps you get a feel of what exactly the organization does and how it does it. I felt confident that our donation would be used for something positive and in an efficient way. Additionally, the fact that this is the only organization like this in NY state makes a contribution to support their work especially valuable. Overall, I really liked this pitch as well as your presentation!
ReplyDeleteI thought this organization was cool mostly because while it was not considered a "pressing" issue, you still brought it to our attention. I liked how this organization originally was created to help the seals and when the seal population leveled out they switched to other animals like the Sea turtles. I thought the transparency of this organization was great as you can tell a lot of the money goes towards treatment for the animals. Knowing that they occasionally go to schools and hold public events to bring attention and educate people about marine life and can one day, save an animal’s life. I feel like this is a cost-effective way to spread the word. Your presentation was well done as well, I especially liked seeing the migration patterns of the sea turtles. I had no idea sea turtles swam in New York, I thought it was too cold for them! As far as volunteering work and the staff go, I feel like our donation can go a long way in helping them help the marine life. By helping these animals, it can have a more positive impact on the environment as the sea is nothing without the animals that live there.
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