TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Michael Codron, Interim Community Development Director
Britny Coker-Moen, Environmental Programs Administrator
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of an Annual Funding Request from Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles in the Amount of $50,000 for Operational Support (Not Budgeted) (Interim Community Development Director Codron).
(Estimated Time: 30 Mins.)
A) RECEIVE REPORT
B) DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
Body
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Receive a presentation on a request from Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles and provide direction to staff; and
b) If the City Council supports Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles’s request for support, direct staff to include $50,000, or an amount that the City Council determines to be appropriate in the FY 2025-26 Budget, authorize the City Manager to execute the associated agreement, and identify a term period for the agreement (i.e. three years).
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
This item is not included in the FY 2025-2026 Proposed Budget. Upon City Council direction, funds could be included in the FY 2025-2026 Budget during its adoption in June. The Marine Mammal Center Los Angeles is seeking annual, ongoing funding. If the City Council supports ongoing funding, then staff will work with the Marine Mammal Center to develop a multi-year funding agreement.
BACKGROUND:
Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles (MMCC), established in 1992, is a non-profit rescue service and hospital for marine mammals that are stranded along the Southern California coastline due to illness, injury, or malnutrition. The organization’s mission is to inspire ocean conservation through marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, education, and research.
MMCC provides marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation services, which includes conducting regular patrols of the harbor area, maintaining veterinary hospital and rehabilitation facilities, and operating a marine mammal reporting hotline, among other duties. Since its founding in 1992, MMCC has rehabilitated more than 10,000 marine mammals and returned them to their ocean home.
Marine Animal Rescue (MAR) was a non-profit organization that conducted a rescue and response program to retrieve mammals in need of care and rehabilitation. MAR transported rescued animals to MMCC to receive medical care. After 30 years of service, MAR became financially insolvent and ceased operations in 2022. MMCC has since established a rescue and response program to ensure rescue services continue throughout Los Angeles County. MMCC is currently the only organization authorized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, to rescue and rehabilitate stranded marine mammals year-round throughout Los Angeles County, including Catalina Island.
MMCC operates 365 days a year, with a staff of 22, more than 380 actively engaged volunteers, and a budget of $3.1 million. More than 85 percent of the organization’s annual revenue comes from private contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
MMCC is submitting proposals to all Los Angeles County coastal cities to ensure a collective annual appropriation that meets the service needs associated with a rapidly changing environment and increasing volume of marine mammal strandings.
On April 1, 2025, City Council approved a request by Councilmember Tarnay and Mayor Howorth to discuss ways for the City to support the Marine Mammal Care Center.
DISCUSSION:
Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles (MMCC), which has historically relied on private philanthropy for the bulk of its budget, is seeking additional funding to respond to an increasing number of strandings in Los Angeles County, both annually and during emergencies. MMCC is seeking funding from all coastal cities within its jurisdiction and the County of Los Angeles. Funding will allow for uninterrupted response and rescue services and ensure financial stability for continued operations. MMCC is seeking to formalize a public-private partnership through a service contract and annual appropriation from the City of Manhattan Beach in the amount of $50,000.
MMCC has already coordinated agreements with the Cities of Hermosa Beach for $35,000, Rancho Palos Verdes for $15,000, Redondo Beach for $60,000, and Long Beach for $60,000, and has pending proposals out with Torrance, El Segundo, Santa Monica, and the County of Los Angeles. The amount requested from each agency was determined by multiple factors, including the City’s population and budget, level of stranding activity on beaches, marine mammal presence, and historical response data. MMCC divides its response area into zones, and Zone 2, which includes Manhattan Beach, accounts for 45 percent of MMCC’s total rescues each year.
Marine mammals can become stranded for a variety of reasons including toxicity from harmful algal blooms, malnutrition, infectious diseases, and entanglements, among other threats. The current mass stranding event is the worst ever seen in Los Angeles County. According to the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, Southern California is currently experiencing the highest concentration ever recorded of Pseudo-nitzschia, a type of plankton that produces toxic domoic acid. Domoic acid is a naturally occurring neurotoxin that can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans and marine mammals. In marine mammals, domoic acid can cause neurological issues like seizures, disorientation, and aggression, posing a potential threat to the health and safety of beach goers.
The number of incidents MMCC responds to, and the number of marine mammals rescued each year varies. Recent data trends indicate that the number of marine mammals stranded will continue to increase, with cyclical spikes being seen more frequently. On average, MMCC responds to 750 to 1000 reports of marine mammals in distress and rescues and rehabilitates 250-500 animals annually. Since January of this year, MMCC has already taken in over 400 animals. From February 20 to April 21, MMCC has responded to 250 live animal strandings, compared to 71 for the same time period in 2024. MMCC receives an average of 4,000 calls to their hotline annually and has already had more than 3,800 calls in March of this year alone.
Without the services provided by MMCC, tourism and access to recreation could be significantly impacted during an average year, let alone a domoic acid or other similar mass stranding event, resulting in no effective way to manage the high volume of ill or injured marine mammals on our beaches.
If an agreement is approved, MMCC would conduct regular patrols of the Manhattan Beach coast and provide educational outreach to City residents and visitors about best practices to protect marine mammals and how to preserve the ocean environment.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
A public notice regarding this meeting was published in The Beach Reporter on May 15, 2025. Additionally, this item was identified on the City Council meeting agenda for June 3, 2025, which was posted in accordance with applicable law.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Marine Mammal Care Center Proposal Letter
2. PowerPoint Presentation