At this point in the selection process, application approval and obligation is not final. An application being recommended is not an authorization to begin performance of the project, and is not a guarantee of funding. Final approval is subject to funding availability as well as final review and approval by both NOAA Grants Management Division and Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Law Division. No application is “awarded” until it has been signed by the official Grants Officer. The Grants Officer will notify successful applicants in writing when their application has been approved.
Alaska
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Seward Association for the Advancement of Marine Science | Supporting Wildlife Response Operations and Training Remote Responders in Alaska | $106,034 |
| University of Alaska Anchorage | Continued Strengthening of Alaska's Marine Mammal Stranding Program through a Statewide Stranding Coordinator for level A - C Response with Improved Data and Sample Management | $101,172 |
California
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| California Wildlife Center | Connecting Rehabilitation and Research Efforts through Pinniped Flipper Tag Resight Data | $23,181 |
| Channel Islands Cetacean Research Unit | Support for CICRU's Cetacean Response Activities | $94,435 |
| Humboldt State University Sponsored Programs Foundation | Critical Baseline Support for Inclusive Dead Marine Mammal Stranding Response at Cal Poly Humboldt - Effort-Based Surveys and Shared Community Stewardship | $142,019 |
| Northcoast Marine Mammal Center | Essential Support to Continue Marine Mammal Response and Rehabilitation in Northern California | $149,126 |
| Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance | Continued Support of OARRA's MMMRP in S. CA, LA County | $150,000 |
| The University of California Santa Cruz | Foundational Support of Marine Mammal Stranding in Central California | $89,122 |
Connecticut
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Mystic Aquarium | Operational Support for Mystic Aquarium’s Animal Rescue Program with Focus on Enhancing Data Management and Expanding Engagement with Local Fishing and Underserved Communities | $149,552 |
| University of Connecticut | Dried blood spot cards as a tool to collect, archive, and measure whole blood contaminants and pathogens in stranded and free-ranging marine mammals | $132,292 |
Florida
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Chicago Zoological Society | Small Cetacean Intervention and Post-Release Monitoring Services | $99,975 |
| Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission | Essential Support for High-Level Cetacean Stranding Response including Large Whale and Mass Stranding Events, Sample Analyses, and Dissemination of Stranding Data | $86,681 |
| Florida Institute of Technology, Inc | Diagnostic Phycotoxin Analyses in support of Marine Mammal Stranding-Based Research | $68,693 |
| Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute | Building community partnerships and providing training and tools to unravel increased dolphin entanglement and enhance stranding response along Florida's most active coast | $150,000 |
| Mote Marine Laboratory | Sustaining Mote Marine Laboratory’s Stranding Investigations Program’s high level of response to stranded cetaceans and testing new methods for remote small cetacean disentanglement | $88,130 |
| University of Florida | A Nationwide Compassion Resiliency Program for Marine Mammal Responders | $150,000 |
Hawaii
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| The Marine Mammal Center | Expand Hospital Capacity and Preparedness for the Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal Rehabilitation Program | $54,031 |
| University of Hawai'i | Maintaining capacity for cetacean stranding response and cause of death investigations in the Pacific Islands While Increasing Diversity and Inclusion | $120,741 |
Illinois
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| University Of Illinois | Centralized Diagnostic Testing, and Histopathology Support for the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Network and Unusual Mortality Events | $121,236 |
Maine
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Marine Mammals of Maine | Increasing Organizational and Community Capacity for Data Collection and Sharing with a Focus on Ongoing and Post-UME Monitoring in Mid-Coast and Southern Maine | $128,111 |
| Shaw Institute | Temporal trends in PFAS contamination in Northwest Atlantic harbor seals: Has regulation improved a threat to marine mammal health? | $123,789 |
Massachusetts
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| International Fund for Animal Welfare, Inc. | Enhancing Cetacean Response Through Training and Collaboration | $141,542 |
| Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket | Enhancement and Sustenance: Marine Mammal Rescue Operations in Nantucket | $37,000 |
| National Marine Life Center, Inc. | Critical Operational Support for Pinniped Rehabilitation in New England | $138,366 |
New Hampshire
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Seacoast Science Center | Critical Support for Closing a Response Gap in Northern Massachusetts, Equitably Modernizing Education and Outreach for Long-Term Success, and Continuing Disease Surveillance and Necropsy | $94,511 |
New Jersey
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Marine Mammal Stranding Center | Critical Operational Support for Marine Mammal Stranding Response, Post-Release Monitoring, and Public Outreach in New Jersey | $78,310 |
New York
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Ltd. | Supporting Expert Marine Mammal Responders in the NY Bight | $149,022 |
| Cornell University | Supporting Marine Mammal Stranding Diagnostic Capacity and Training Opportunities in the Mid-Atlantic Region | $70,881 |
North Carolina
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources | Mammal Stranding Response in Central Coastal and Northern and Central Inland North Carolina | $99,961 |
| University of North Carolina at Wilmington | Marine Mammal Stranding Response in Southern North Carolina with Emphasis Human Interaction Diagnosis in support of the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Team, Bottlenose Dolphin Post-UME Monitoring | $62,298 |
Oregon
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Oregon State University | Supporting and Enhancing the Capabilities of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network | $133,194 |
| Portland State University | Sustainable Response, Enhanced Data Collection and Analysis, and Educational Outreach for the Northern Oregon/Southern Washington Marine Mammal Stranding Program (NOSWSP) | $150,000 |
South Carolina
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network | Stranding Response and Outreach for the South Carolina Marine Mammal Stranding Network | $66,341 |
Texas
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network | Enhancing Sustainable Support for Marine Mammal Response Initiatives and Team Members on the Texas Gulf Coast | $149,880 |
Washington
| Applicant | Project Title | Federal Funding Requested |
|---|
| Cascadia Research Collective | Response to strandings of marine mammals in primary areas, and stranding and entanglement response for large whales in all Washington State in 2025 | $149,992 |
| Orca Network | Continuing strategic and veterinary support for the health needs of stranded and entangled marine mammals in North and Central Puget Sound in Washington State | $70,110 |
| Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife | Support for WDFW’s ongoing marine mammal stranding response and investigations of causes of mortality in Washington State | $150,000 |