HOTLINE  (833) 667-6626  FOR INJURED, SICK OR DECEASED MARINE MAMMALS

HOTLINE  (833) 667-6626

Making a difference.

Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, formed in cooperation with NOAA Fisheries to monitor, protect and assist marine mammals around Nantucket, Muskeget and Tuckernuck islands. Our team is here to advise and educate the public on what is normal behavior for marine mammals and what needs to be reported for help. We respond and disentangle pinnipeds from fishing gear, escort stranded cetaceans to safer waters and deliver injured or ill animals to rehab when necessary. Through outreach, education, collaboration and advocacy, we strive to make a difference.

Raising Awareness.

Global warming is causing marine life to change their migration patterns and habits. These changes put them on a direct path toward increased human interaction. Ship strikes have become commonplace as have seals and whales entangled in fishing gear. Seabirds, fish and mammals are ingesting fatal quantities of plastics; whales, dolphins and turtles are being found far off course resulting in mass strandings and beaches littered with cold stunned Mola mola and turtles. Marine life depends on our stewardship. As Greta Thunberg said, “Our house is burning!”


All of us are connected to the ocean, no matter where we live, and the health of her inhabitants is paramount to a healthy ocean ecosystem.

“If you protect the ocean, you protect yourself.”

– Jean-Michel Cousteau, American Underwater Treasures

By Steve St. Pierre 23 May, 2023
Late spring/early summer is a common time of year to see young of the year gray seals pups haul out on many of Nantucket beaches to rest, sleep, warm up and recharge their batteries. Earlier in the year, most were born on one of Massachusetts’ desolate beaches, possibly during windy, cold or freezing temperatures. Born with a fluffy white lanugo hair coat and minimal body reserves for warmth, they had to rely on the life-sustaining maternal bond established at birth between themselves and their mothers for survival. If they were fortunate enough to be born to a mother with good nursing skills, who was provisioned well enough to produce the required high fat content milk needed to rapidly build up a substantial blubber layer, then they were beyond one of the first major hurdles in their neonatal life. During those early neonatal weeks, mom would stay by her pup’s side, overseeing its safety and nutrition until weaning, which occurred around 17-21 days of age. Hopefully during that time, our pup developed a thick blubber layer to maintain its body temperature during exposure to cold air and water as well as provide enough calories to sustain the pup’s metabolism as it went through the high energy and protein requirement of replacing the lanugo coat with a more permanent hair coat. At this point, one would hope that the challenges of life would become easier for our young seal, but mother nature is unrelenting. The next hurdles were to learn how to enter the water, swim and forage for itself.
16 Nov, 2022
One thing that can’t be experienced on a whale watch is a close-up examination of the ecological niche that is present on the surface of a humpback whale. In this blog, I will give you a close-up appreciation of this interesting area.  Recently a two year old male humpback whale died and washed up on the beach in Madaket.
15 Oct, 2022
What Caused this Dolphin's Demise?
Share by: