Groups step up

The Maine Department of Marine Resources and New England’s stranding network are stepping up following the shutdown of Marine Animal Lifeline.

In Maine, the University of New England in Biddeford now operates the state’s only seal rehabilitation program. Allied Whale, which is operated by the College of the Atlantic in Harbor, handles Down East rescues but doesn’t rehabilitate seals.

To the south, the Mystic Aquarium handles rescue and rehabilitation in Connecticut and Rhode Island. In Massachusetts, the Cape Cod Stranding Network and New England Aquarium in Boston handle rescues and rehabilitation in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

This summer, stranding organizations and aquariums as far south as Virginia are prepared to send volunteers to Maine to fill the void left by the shutdown of the Marine Animal Lifeline, said Heather Medic, stranding coordinator for Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium.