“Most of what we do you really don’t see,” says Robert DiGiovanni, director and senior biologist at the foundation.
Not Jaws: Experts studied a shark found on Gilgo Beach in July. (AP Photo/Sophia Hall)
The organization is the only authorized marine mammal and sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation center in New York. The 24/7 operation makes more than 250 rescues annually and provides an around-the-clock emergency room for marine animals. With eight staff members and many volunteers, the organization’s efforts are funded by donations—but they are about to get some help.
Stony Brook University (SBU) marine science students are now getting the chance to handle live marine animals through a new partnership forged between the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, the Riverhead Foundation and the Atlantis Marine World aquarium in Riverhead that it calls home.
“This new collaboration is going to broaden their educational experience,” says SBU President Samuel Stanley. “It’s going to involve them in the design of the exhibits and enable them to be part of the effort to create vital public awareness of this critical area in marine science.”
The partnership will expand on the foundation’s education programs at a time when cameras are being added that will stream video of the animals currently being rehabilitated. It also comes as the marine science program at the Southampton campus was rehabilitated itself, after Long Island University sold it to SBU in 2006.
“I always thought that if the aquarium venture didn’t work out I’d get a job at Southampton College, never thinking it would be the campus that would disappear,” says Joe Yaiullo, co-founder and curator at Atlantis. “It was a scary time, but here we are in 2009 and to see the campus alive again, better than ever, it’s amazing.”
Currently, the foundation is treating several animals including a sea turtle with a boat injury, as well as several gray seals with respiratory illnesses. Once the staff feels these animals are ready to be returned to the wild, they are released and given satellite tags to track their movements for research purposes. And now, more students can gain invaluable hands-on experience while continuing the Foundation’s 4,000-rescue legacy.
For both student and researcher, the partnership is win-win. “I went to the school and said we could either review for our final exam or we could go rescue a dolphin,” says DiGiovanni. “And you could figure out which one they wanted to do.”
