Marine Mammal Research & Rescue

This past year has been difficult for many volunteer organisations with so many changes but one thing has remained constant is the dedication and commitment of ORCA volunteers to our mission of ocean preservation.

The Ocean Research & Conservation Association of Ireland (ORCA Ireland) are a non-profit organisation dedicated to rescue, monitoring, minimising disturbance to marine wildlife, and research and education through innovative technology.

Since its creation in 2017, ORCA Ireland have used a crowdsourcing citizen science mobile phone application - the Observers App, to gather data on marine megafauna, including cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoise), pinnipeds (seals) and elasmobranchs (sharks).

In recent years we have had a huge increase in the number of live stranded marine mammals, particularly common dolphins, reported to the Observers App. In response to this, our volunteers created the ORCA Welfare Unit, to facilitate training and emergency response to marine mammals in need of rescue & release. With the help of experienced volunteers, ORCA Ireland coordinates dolphin stranding response in order to gain a better insight into the impacts of human activities on marine mammal mortality.

ORCA Marine Mammal Responders assist people with rescue and release of stranded dolphins and can provide you with at hand expertise over our 24 hr HOTLINE 089 - 462-53-74. First Responders will arrive to the site to conduct an on-site health assessment of the animal in order to determine if it is a suitable candidate for a re-float. It is not always in the animals best interest to be put back into the sea. Some animals may be healthy enough to be re-floated, but often animals that are sick or injured have little chance of survival.

ORCA Responders need your help! We are busier than ever, but with COVID our Responders Network Training is limited and we need important equipment to rescue dolphins and other marine megafauna. If you donate today to ORCA Ireland you will directly fund the procurement of rescue and research equipment for stranded dolphins and other marine wildlife including;

• Rescue/ Research Van Repair
• Soft stretchers
• Pontoons (for larger whales)
• Trolly
• Training equipment
• Dry suits
• Lab equipment

Your support will directly assist with beach recovery and necropsy, biological sample inventory, data collection and maintenance, photo-identification surveys, and equipment and facility maintenance.

Help ORCA Marine Mammal Responders get critical equipment and supplies for rescue and rehabilitation. ORCA Ireland receives only limited institutional support in the form of grants. ORCA relies on the donations of time and funds from generous supporters to continue it's mission dedicated to rescue, rehabilitation, research, and education.

No donation is too small. Please spread the word. If you have colleagues, associates or even companies that would like to become involved in this donation program we would appreciate your help.