Flipper-And-Fin That Night, the Emergency Was a Cellphone

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BONNIE JO MOUNT,/THE WASHINGTON POST Busv season for ./ vast East Coast network ofvolunteer flrst IN ocEAN cITY sv Srnvn llnwPnrx responders for the finned and flippered. "Theyte preW used to us rushing out Erbe knew dinner was over huck of restaurants aroundhere," Erbe said. as soon as he saw the numb€r on flipper-and-fin That night, the emergency was a cellPhone. There was his ringing motherless minke whale calf, just weeks a babv whale in distress. He told beached off a baclo;vater of Assawom- Fratello on Fenwick old, the waiter at Mio an Bay. Ocean City firefighters were aI- a box for the pasta and rescuers Island to bring ready onthe scene, towing the animal to a quick of clothes headed for the change marina where Erbe would reach it as that waited in his truck. and the badge A diverse network of volunteers is on call tourists crowded around. By day, Erbe is a mild-mannered, 72- just held it" as he waited for a handing out "I year-old properry manager, when marine animals need assistance RESCUE CONTINUEDON A8 pool passes and chasing down lost TV iemoies for rental houses along the Dela- N.C. shoreline ColinMcDermottworks on aflipper of a Helicopter circling ware-Maryland coast. But several times a Veterinarian struggle to explain at the National Aquarium in Officials and scientists week. he and his wife, Ellen, a librarian, Kemp's ridley sea turtle mar{ne anirnals are lreat€d' seven shark attacks witirin three weeks. A3 become marine animal rescuers, part of a Baltimore, where idured wnen coasml creatures are il

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veterinarian to arrive, Erbe said. "I wanted it to know it wasn't alone," . Summer is a busy time for marihe rescue. Migrating animals are'on the move, hazardous boat traffic is up, and beaches are crowded with tourists alert to anv vritdlife on the wrong side of th! sandy line that divides their realm from ours. And whenever a sea'turtle washes ashore or a. mana-tee takes a wrong turn along the.Xast Coast, a phalanx of volunteers, government agencies and'ponprofit groups is standing by,t'o help. ' The effort, loosely coordinated by the federal government, re- spOnds each year to more than 1,900 stranded marine mammals and about 2,200 turtles. Similar netwgrks ring the country's Gulf an4 Paciflc coasts. Some of the animals are quick- ly released. Others are sent to rehabilitation facilities, such as the National Aquarium in Balti- r4ore, which seryes as the coordi- natot of rescue efforts in Mary- land.'The less luclly are dissected by,biologists and then buried in uhdisclosed stretches of beach. Sorye.- like the newborn minke, which couldn't survive without its mother - are preserved for study. "I.get emotional just talking about that one," Erbe, a big rrian with a booming voice and a habit of using military time to set up meetings, said of the little ceta- cedn that died in his arms. "But we save so many. It's a very re- wardingthing." In coastal communities, marine animal rescue is alocal affair, in which volunteers work side bv side with first responders. ErbL has waded into the surf with police officers in full uniform to fish an injured seaturtle from the wav€s. .Lifeguards, who get special trairling, routinely provide aid to sea-creatures in need. Part oftheir jqb is to keep curious beachgoers PHOTOS BY BONNIE JO MOUNT/THE WASHINGTON POST away from animals that can be TOP: People watch as a Kemp's ridley seaturfle is released in Ocean both-vulnerable and dangerous. City. ABOVE: At the National Aquarium in Baltimore, injured "l'Dolphins have teeth and are turtles and other marine animals are rehabilitated. O Video is at basically a solid tube of muscle," uapo.stfturtleRehabtlitation There is also a photo galery online. said.Jamie Falcon, a sergeant in the"Ocean City Beach Patrol. strandings. Public works staffers day in this job," said Barbara Brit sometimes the crowd can run the heavy equipment needed Wisniewski, an Ocean City ani- help. When a bottlenose dolphin to hoist a dolphin or whale into mal control ofncer for almost 3O wa$.stranded in 2013. Falcon the transport truck (or to bury it). years. helped build a shade canopy of And during an Ocean City ham- Animal-loving property man- bgach umbrellas and directed a merhead shark scare in late June. agers, teachers, lawyers and retir- toy-bucket brigade more than 30 biologists in Baltimore asked ani- ees Qots of retirees) make up the tourists long to keep the animal mal control officers to try to get a bulk of marine first responders. cool and wet for hours, clear photograph of the animal's The National Aquarium has {ir.Ocean City, even dogcatch- dorsal fin to help them narrow trained a corps of more than 100 . e(s.;and trash collebtors are down the species. civilians in marine animal wel- trdined b help with marine "Everything is different every fare so they can respond to calls n fistress, volunteers respond

tank Most are suryivors of a ma- jor cold snap that left dozens of nea"rly frozen turtles on North- ea^stern beaches in December. It has taken months of antibioticsto fight off pneumonia and other maladies. Some needed surgeryto repair damaged flippers or shells. Others are recovering from en- counters with fishermen. This spring, the Virginia Aquarium launched a public awareness campaign at fishing piers along the coast, encouraging anglers to call for help when they catch a turtle, rather thanjust cutting the line. The result has been 30 turtle rescues thisyear - fourtimes the usual number - andVirginiahas sent some of its overflowto Balti more. Ttre woman carries one of the Virginia turtles, a Kemp's ridley they've named Clayton,tothe side ofthe tan[ where a veterinarian and two technicians are giving meds and conducting exams. The vet, Colin McDermott, peers into the animal3 mouth. A fishing hook was deep in the esophagus, ' and the doc worries that the rot- ten fish smell on Clayton's breath means there is a still a tear. He orders anMRI. "\[e work hard to get them healthy," Dittmar. said. When they are finally fit to flip, itb acelebration. On arecentearly morning on the Ocean City beach, from Delaware to Virginia. The ed on the animals that don't make about 20 marine animal volun- facility also sometimes takes ani- it, Erbe has stood inside a whale, teers, beach patrol officers and mals rescued in Delaware and cutting out cubes of blubber the I{ational Aquarium staffers gath- NewJersey. size ofice chests. CSI Seaside. ered to send three turtles on their The VirginiaAquarium in Vir- "I'm not squeamish in the way. ginia Beach, which oversees ma- least," he said. "That's one of the Three plastic tubs sat a few rine animal rescue in the Old job requirements." yards from the surf. Volunteer Dominion, maintains a team of Tfpically, the volunteers make Nathan Durman, who spends his about 7O trained volunteers who an initial assessment of a strand- days as an emergency communi- staff round-the-clock, on-call ed animal's condition, consulting cations specialist, reached into shifts. The team, along with remotely with the experts. For big one and hoisted out a turtle the aquarium staffers, responils to mammals in distress, the aduari size of a throw pillow. Immedi- about 300 marine animal calls um will send a team and a truck. ately, the animal began flapping posts and more than I5,0OO hours But Erbe has run many a sea its flippers as if trying to fly into ofvolunteer service a year. turtle to Baltimore in the back of the waves. "There's no way we could do his black Silverado. In April, he "He smells the ocean," Durman this without themi said Mark and his son, Tom, another rescue said with a grin. The turtle, a Swingle, the aquarium's director volunteer, drove 20 rehabilitated Kemp's ridley with "82" painted of research and conservation. turtles 750 miles down Interstate on his back, was one of the winter Erbe has been volunteering in 95 so they could be released in the 'told stun" survivors. He had marine life rescue programs for 14, warm waters off Jacksonville. been in the Baltimore tank for six years. He came with a longtime Before they are released, sick months. fondness for animals and a familv turtles recover on a pier in Balti Durman put the turtle down, habit of fostering dogs and cati. more's Inner Harbor, in a cavern- and every eye watched the animal 'My wife always says the best ous room filled with giant pipes, sc€unper direetly into the foam, thing about helping marine ani- massive filters and i l5-foot-deep get bowled'over by a;ryave and mals is that you can't take any of tank the size ofthree-car garage. thenbe...gond. l them home,"Erbe says. "\Melcome to turtle world," said Erbe looked on from the side. He had no experience with ma- Jennifer Dittmar, head of the Na- On his way to a day-long training rine biolory. But now, after multi- tional Aquariumb animal rescue session on how -l ple to remove fish training sessions and hun- team. This is where stranded log- hooks from a snagged turtle, he dreds of respoirse calls, he has gerheads and leatherbacks and came to say bon voyage to three deep insights into animal behav- Kemp's ridleys come to getbetter. that were headingbackto the sea. ior ("seals canbite) and agrasp of Below, a woman in hip waders "Thisi he said, "is,what closes anatomy - inside and out. As part stalked one of the Il turtles swim- the loop for me." ofthe routine necropsy conduct- ming in the shallowwaters of the steve. h en d r ix@washposf .com