ABOUT MMAN

OUR MISSION

The Mission of the Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket is to monitor, rescue and protect marine mammals on Nantucket, advocate for their well-being, and educate the public.

OUR TEAM

Our dedicated team is made of seasonal and year round residents, whom we solely rely on for manning our hotline, response and rescue.

Stranding Coordinators

Kim Schulam, Stranding Coordinator

Stephen St. Pierre, DVM, and Peter Meerbergen Assistant Stranding Coordinators

RESCUE TEAM

A.J. Zenkert, Burton Balkind, Bernard Duerrmeier, Danielle O'Dell, Hugh Lloyd-Thomas, Jeanne Fones, Jillian Lucchini, Joe Hsu, Johanna Black, Kerry Flynn, Liz Holland, Megan Andelloux, Michael Noonan, Pam Murphy, Peter Meerbergen, Peter Sutters, Sally Knutzen, Scott Corry, Scott Leonard, Sean Allen, Stephen Drabkin, Stephen St. Pierre, Susan Nelson, Susan Rohrer, Tom Kilgore.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • Pam Murphy

    Pam has been involved in animal rescue for many years, from creating a Be Kind to Animals Club at the age of 7, to one of the founders of Nantucket Island Safe Harbor for Animals (NiSHA) in 2011, serving 8 years as board president.  Her extensive board experience with TWN, NiSHA, and NAC put her in a solid position to manage MMAN’s board and see it develop into a stronger organization, capable of attracting the donor support the mission deserves.  A lifelong vegetarian, Pam has never been able to stand idly by when an animal is suffering so to be allowed to approach injured and entangled marine mammals legally and help was what drew her to MMAN.  She became Level A trained, learning to restrain and disentangle seals and went on to attend a Cetacean Stranding Workshop with IFAW.  “I have learned a great deal about Marine Mammals and how to help through the vast knowledge of my teammates.”


President

  • Peter Meerbergen

    Fifty years ago Peter and his family got on the “wrong” ferry and found themselves on Nantucket Island, where he fell in love with the remote, natural beauty of this little spit of sand. Peter has travelled the world, including a 2-year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer. He has been an accomplished artist, tradesman, and craftsman for 59 years with a passion for restoring historic buildings. Now semi-retired, he enjoys working as a Ranger for the Coskata-Coatue Refuge. His love of the natural world and working outdoors brought him to MMAN. He serves as Assistant Stranding Coordinator and assists Dr. St. Pierre with necropsies.


   Assistant Stranding Coordinator

  • Stephen Drabkin

    Steve is the retired Postmaster of Nantucket.  He now serves as part time Ranger for The Trustees of Reservations on Nantucket's Great Point and Patrols with the USCG Auxilliary. Steve trained as Marine Mammal Volunteer responder with New England Aquarium in 2013, is First Aid and CPR trained, a trained wildlife Rehabilitator (2005), aircraft owner and pilot. As a certified scuba diver, Steve was a member of the New England Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Stranding Team Nantucket since 1990.  His prior business experience includes owner/manager of an advertising agency, sales promotion and public relations.  Steve is an avid boater, fisherman and a full time Nantucket resident.

  • Kim Schulam

    Kim began visiting Nantucket in 2013 and fell in love with the remote, natural qualities of the island.  She and her husband purchased a home on Nantucket in 2017.  A Biological Sciences major in college, she initially thought of going into the field of marine Biology or Veterinary medicine but ended up pursuing a career as a Physicians Assistant.  Now retired from medicine, she had the good fortune to meet Scott Leonard and learn of MMAN.  She immediately joined the team, became Level A trained, attended IFAW’s cetacean rescue training, and is 24-Hour HAZWOPER certified for oil spill wildlife rescue.  One of her responsibilities with MMAN is to complete and submit Level A reports to NOAA as required to maintain MMAN’s Stranding Agreement.  She also assists DVM St. Pierre with necropsies. She feels strongly that humans have an obligation to marine life to help them survive given all we have done to injure them and destroy their environment.


Secretary, Stranding Coordinator

  • Megan Andelloux

    Megan was born in Massachusetts, raised on Cape Cod and took her first job at the age of 9 at the Brewster Museum of Natural History where she was a tour guide and assisted with injured turtle rehabilitation.  While she entered college with the intention to become a Marine Biologist, she veered off course and ended up becoming a human sexuality educator. She worked for two decades in the field, highlighted by founding a 501c3 non profit adult human sexuality education center. 


    She lectured prolifically throughout North America, averaging 100 engagement annually,  and focused on working with medical schools and college campuses. As the Executive Director of her non-profit, she also took on internships and would accept up to 10 students from higher education organizations per semester.  Many of these interns have themselves gone on to be professional educators in their own right. 


    As she has always been drawn to subjects that others may find uncomfortable, towards the end of her career she branched out and started provided death and dying education after  training as a death doula. Her career choices have been guided by the fundamental belief that if we provide the space to compassionately acknowledge scary moments, we can reduce unneeded suffering. Though medical limitations forced her to leave the organization she founded and directed for over a decade, it continues to live on and educate the public today.


    She is now an avid coastal forager and budding sculptor. As her activities regularly put her in proximity to injured or abandoned wildlife, it was an easy (and deeply fulfilling) step to team up with MMAN and continue her passion to reduce suffering wherever possible. She is thrilled to continue to support our human and wildlife communities through her work with MMAN. Megan serves as Volunteer Coordinator and Chair of the Education Committee. 

Volunteer Coordinator

  • Suzy Gale

    Suzanne has been a Nantucket police officer since 2003 and passed the Legal Clinic for MA Animal Control in 2011.  Suzy attended  the Animal Control Academy fo MA in 2015.  She was trained by New England Aquarium for disentanglement work with pinnipeds and turtles in 2012 and attended IFAW training in 2016.  Suzy has training in bird of prey, horse and dog training and is certified as EMT/First Responder.

  • Stephen St. Pierre, DVM

    Dr. St. Pierre did his undergraduate studies at the University of Vermont and graduate work at Cornell University, graduating with a DVM degree in 1970.  After several years as an associate veterinarian in two small animal practices, he established his own practice in Glastonbury, Connecticut in 1974, developing it into a 4 doctor practice which he sold in 2006. He continued to work in his former practice for 2 years after which he moved to Nantucket where he continued to practice small animal medicine at the MSPCA owned by Angell Boston.  In 2011, when Angell Boston decided to sell the practice, he along with 3 other veterinarians, formed a partnership and purchased the practice, renaming it Offshore Animal Hospital.  He remained there until his retirement in 2020.  

    Being a student of nature all his life, it was only natural for Steve to continue to be involved with Nantucket’s biodiversity.  After becoming a full time Nantucket resident in 2008, he became involved with the New England Aquarium’s Stranding team.  When the aquarium ended it’s support for Nantucket, it created a void on island for marine mammal assistance. Steve was instrumental in establishing the new MMAN stranding team and continues to offer his veterinary knowledge and man power. He has participated in multiple team training sessions, necropsied numerous marine mammals for the team, written blogs for the website, is on its Board of Directors and is their Greater Atlantic Research Seal Consortium representative. 


Assistant Stranding Coordinator

  • Eric Savetsky

    Eric is a full time resident of Nantucket Island and has been Executive Director of the Nantucket Land Bank, a public land conservation agency, since 1997.  He holds a BS in Engineering and a Masters in Community Planning.  Eric is an avid naturalist, explorer and wildlife/underwater photographer/videographer.  He has been operating boats in coastal and offshore waters for over 35 years and currently owns and operates a 36’ power boat along with a 17’ skiff. He has received Volunteer Responder/Level A Data Collection training and has responded to cetacean/pinniped strandings and turtle entanglements.  In addition, he is currently involved with WHOI researchers in a pioneer effort to satellite tag whale sharks in the northwestern North Atlantic offshore waters of New England after the successful first ever tagging of one in 2016.

FOUNDERS

  • Scott Leonard

    Scott attended Humboldt State University as an Oceanography major, graduated from Sonoma County Law Enforcement training center (1978) and spent time as a law enforcement ranger at the Cape Conational Seashore.  Scott emigrated to New Zealand in 1985 as a competitive runner and subsequently race organizer.  He lived on Nantucket from 1998 until 2020 and was a member of the Marine Mammal Stranding Team under New England Aquarium from 2000-2011.  He became a member of the Nantucket Marine Mammal Conservation Program in 1999 and took over directorship of the NMMCP in 2009.  Scott attended volunteer marine mammal response training at New England Aquarium. The U Mass Boston Field Station on Nantucket and at IFAW (2016), plus numerous other workshops and presentations (i.e. PEG workshop 2017).  As CEO of MMAN, Scott secured a Stranding Agreement with NOAA/NMFS so a team could be reestablished after the departure of NEAq in2016. Scott served as Stranding Coordinator for MMAN from inception until September 2020.


  • Michelle Perkins

    Michelle Perkins has always felt strongly connected to the natural world and has volunteered for many animal and environmental causes. She was raised in New Zealand, has travelled extensively and lived on Nantucket for many years where she was heavily involved in animal welfare causes. Michelle worked as Operations Manager of Nantucket island Safe Harbor for Animals (NiSHA) - the animal shelter and domestic animal welfare organization on Nantucket. She was on the board of MMAN and an active member of the stranding response team.  Michelle volunteered for marine mammal causes on Nantucket from 1998 until she moved back to New Zealand in 2017.  She is currently actively involved in animal welfare there and serves as Engagement Assistant for SAFE for Animals, New Zealand’s leading animal rights charity.  She continues to support MANN’s mission by serving on the Advisory Council.


OUR PARTNERS

The following are agencies, institutions and organizations with which we collaborate to advance our mission.

OUR SPONSORS

MOOR STUDIO

We help businesses and organizations reach their full potential through creative logo design, engaging websites, and effective marketing solutions.

Moor Studio is a graphic design studio based in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, with clients throughout New England. With over a decade of experience and an extensive portfolio of both digital and print projects, Moor offers the cumulative skills of a diverse team of talented creatives. To help empower MMAN in our mission, Moor Studio donated their services to design a logo and website.

www.moor.studio



CAPE COD 5 FOUNDATION

We help to support and enhance the vibrancy and vitality of our communities by providing financial support to local nonprofit organizations. In each of the last three years, Cape Cod Five has contributed more than $1 million annually to organizations working to make a positive impact in our region. Gave MMAN a grant to cover digital advertising on the Hy-line to educate travelers and visitors about Nantucket's marine mammals and their plight.

https://www.capecodfive.com/philanthropy

Please consider becoming a Sponsor of MMAN and help our ocean inhabitants. Contact Pam at pam@NantucketMMAN.org

OUR HISTORY

More than 50 years ago Jean Rioux's life changed when she met Peter, a Bottlenose Dolphin at John Lilly’s research center in the U.S. Virgin Islands. During her 20 minute visit with the dolphin, Jean was able to both see and feel Peter’s intelligence, playfulness and desire to connect. Soon after, she read everything in the St. Thomas library about cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises – and so began her life-long education about marine mammals. 


She grew to view their physical and mental capabilities with awe and was alarmed at how rapidly whales and dolphins were being killed around the world. In 1978 Jean put her passion into action and created the Marine Mammal Conservation Program on Nantucket. A summer visitor for many years, she wanted the program to reside on the island because it had been so influenced in the 17th and 18th century by the whaling industry and had parlayed that history into a tourist industry. For 25 years, Jean came each summer to produce conservation programs for the public and walked downtown sidewalks wearing a cetacean-themed sandwich board as a way to raise awareness.


Four years after launching the Marine Mammal Conservation Program, Jean founded the Marine Mammal Stranding Team. In December of 1981, thirteen Pilot Whales washed ashore during a nor’easter. Harming the animals was illegal under the terms of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, enacted in 1972, but nonetheless the head of the Department of Public Works had the still living whales dragged from the beach through heavy brush to the landfill where they were left to die. Outraged by the whales' demise, Jean organized a team that was trained to protect and assist stranded marine mammals in coordination with island authorities. New England Aquarium and the National Marine Fisheries Service stepped up to help. Larry Cronin served as Beach Coordinator until Edie Ray took that on in 1992.


 “What did all this accomplish for whales and other marine mammals? That really is the bottom line. After thirty-three years of talking about whales and urging people into action, I know that whales are still being killed and whaling is still alive and well and even recruiting more followers in other parts of the world. Yet, the environmental movement worldwide has really changed things for the better in the past thirty-three years and I have been a part of that,” Jean wrote in an essay titled “The Nantucket Whale Woman” which appears in the book Little Gray Island: Life Stories From Nantucket.


In 2009 Jean stepped away from the day-to-day management of the two organizations that she had created and run for more than 30 years. She now serves as Director Emeritus to the Marine Mammal Alliance of Nantucket. At that time, long-time volunteers Scott Leonard and Michelle Perkins stepped in to run the alliance. In 2020, Scott stepped down as director of operations and Jillian Drury came onboard as executive director and stranding coordinator.


Michelle and Scott have spent their lives living near the sea. Scott grew up in Northern California. Michelle was born in Nigeria, spent early years in Singapore and was raised in New Zealand. When they ended up on Nantucket in 1998, they chose to embrace life on an island 27 miles out to sea. Among other things they volunteered with Jean’s Nantucket Marine Mammal Conservation Program.


The program’s Standing Agreement, a contract with NOAA Fisheries allowing team members to approach and aid marine mammals, was held by the New England Aquarium. The island team worked closely with the Aquarium and, under their guidance and training, disentangled seals, collected data, monitored beaches and helped with a stranded deceased right whale in 1998.


In 2014, NEAq determined they could no longer support the island team or hold the stranding agreement. The team’s efforts came to a stand still. No one was allowed to respond to entangled animals except the Environmental Police. For 3 years Scott endeavored to find a non profit to take on the agreement, with no luck. The bigger organizations didn’t want to pay for a presence on island, local non profits couldn’t allow the autonomy needed. Finally, in 2017, Scott formed Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket and secured a Provisional Stranding Agreement with NOAA, once again allowing island volunteers to assist entangled and infirm marine mammals as well as collect data on deceased individuals.


Already well known for his animal advocacy and stranding work on island, Scott became the go to person whenever a marine mammal or shore bird was in trouble. He could be found anywhere, anytime on island beaches educating by standers, monitoring stranded seals, making essential calls to colleagues in the field. Scott single handedly arranged talks by noted scholars in the field of oceanography and marine biology, liaised with countless organizations around the globe to further the cause of all marine mammals, hoping to make Nantucket a Whale Heritage Site – saving the whales that built this community so many decades ago. 


In August of 2020, Scott stepped down as CEO and Stranding Coordinator of MMAN to return to California and pursue other interests. Nantucket was no longer an affordable place for someone whose dedication to the cause was so all consuming, he could not find affordable year round housing. Scott made the very difficult decision to leave island.


Enter Pam Murphy, MANN’s board President  and stranding team member. Together with team members and dedicated board members, she hopes to sustain MMAN through collaboration, sharing the duties Scott had managed on his own across the entire group. One day, MANN hopes to be able to afford to sustain a Stranding Coordinator position, thus freeing that person from other obligations and guaranteeing a response to every animal in need. Until that day, MANN strives to do the best we can to save animals, educate the public and work toward a better, safer healthier ocean ecosystem.

STATEMENT OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

MMAN is committed to fostering, strengthening, and expanding diversity, equality, and inclusion within our volunteer organization. Like the animals we serve, we believe that every human beside whom we work has value and is to be treated with compassion and respect. We foster an expectation that MMAN volunteers treat their colleagues with dignity and kindness. We believe that an organization devoted to supporting and advocating for our local marine mammals is best served by having individuals of different ages, races, abilities, ethnicities, gender identities or expression, spoken languages, national origin, sexual orientations, and socio-economic status represented.

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