Largest U.S. Marine Mammal Hospital To Open
By Matt J. Weiss, June 5, 2009 @ 09:39 AM (EST)
Source: Mercurynews.com
Since 1975, when it opened with a few bathtubs and chicken wire pens, it's been California's primary emergency room for sea lions, elephant seals, even the occasional dolphin.
Today, the Marine Mammal Center, a nonprofit facility that treats animals found on beaches from Monterey Bay to Mendocino, is opening a new $32 million headquarters, the largest marine mammal hospital in the nation.
The facility, at a former Nike missile site near Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands, can hold four times as many animals as the old one, and includes state-of-the-art labs, a classroom and observation decks for the public. The ceremonial ribbon cutting is today, with the public opening set for June 15. The center's 47 staff members and 800 volunteers are happy as a pack of otters at a Long John Silver's.
"This is wonderful. It's like going from a pickup truck to a Ferrari," said Stan Jensen, a Pacifica resident who has volunteered at the center for the past nine years.
Jensen, a retired computer engineer from Silicon Graphics, has seen nearly all the ailments that send roughly 800 furry and flippered "patients" to the center every year.
Today, the Marine Mammal Center, a nonprofit facility that treats animals found on beaches from Monterey Bay to Mendocino, is opening a new $32 million headquarters, the largest marine mammal hospital in the nation.
The facility, at a former Nike missile site near Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands, can hold four times as many animals as the old one, and includes state-of-the-art labs, a classroom and observation decks for the public. The ceremonial ribbon cutting is today, with the public opening set for June 15. The center's 47 staff members and 800 volunteers are happy as a pack of otters at a Long John Silver's.
"This is wonderful. It's like going from a pickup truck to a Ferrari," said Stan Jensen, a Pacifica resident who has volunteered at the center for the past nine years.
Jensen, a retired computer engineer from Silicon Graphics, has seen nearly all the ailments that send roughly 800 furry and flippered "patients" to the center every year.
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