Pacific Marine Mammal Center

As the wife of one of the founders I have witnessed first hand what it takes , not only to start a non profit, but to sustain it . I have watch it grow from a handful of volunteers to the highly thought of organization it is today. It was started with about a dozen people and a plastic pool in one members back yard in 1971. we called it, Friends of the Sea lion Now know as Pacific Marine Mammal Center a top rated organization fully staffed. and an abundance of truly dedicated volunteers who's mission is to rescue, and rehabilitate marine mammals along the so California coast returning them to the ocean for a second chance of life. Research and Education are also a big part of PMMC. and we are in the midst of a amazing remodel of our facility and look forward to reopening to the Public in a few months. Come and see for yourself 20612. Laguna Canyon rd Laguna Beach CA. And if you get a change to see a release ( this is my favorite part). , when these animals are returned to the ocean. they look out and see the water , run down the wet sand and return home to the sea you know all the hard work to make this happen was worth the effort. that is the Reward.. Stephanie Cunningham

I loved my visit to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. I loved it so much I’ve brought family members and friends to visit the center. The employees, the dedication, the volunteers and
and the environment created for the seals is amazing. I did not realize how much needs to happen to release a seal back to the ocean after it arrives to the Center. Stephanie was my guide and is a wealth of information.
I will be back for visit real soon because I learn something new each time I visit.
It’s great to see the seals up close and so happy!

Amazing organization with truly dedicated staff and volunteers.

This organization has been doing amazing work for decades- and they're making major moves toward growing their capacity and capabilities! Excited to see what comes next for this amazing group of people.

PMMC is phenomenal nonprofit that works to rescue, rehabilitate, and release marine mammals. They are small but mighty! I love that their visitor yard is open to the public and they focus on education and conservation.

PMMC is run by amazing and dedicated individuals with big hearts. Animals come in on death's door and are restored to good health and then released for a second chance at life. Additionally, the educational and research efforts are under recognized and vast. This little non profit is a powerhouse that is making a difference for the environment!

PMMC is seriously such an amazing organization. It's free to come for a visit and when onsite, you will see the marine mammal patients that are recovering from illness or injury. Together, the staff and volunteers make up Team PMMC. It takes the whole team to be successful in achieving our mission. To see what the patients go through is seriously impressive. A true Cinderella story! I've been with the organization for 7 years, and I'm honored to be a part of it.

I am a new volunteer. I am impressed with this non profit's organization and professionalism. They are all caring humans that have a passion for their work.
Lisa

As a volunteer at PMMC I am thrilled at the amazing work everyone at the center puts in every day to rescue and rehabilitate every single one of the patients. It is truly a joy to be surrounded but such enthusiastic and dedicated people furthering research and education about our marine mammals and the ocean.

I visited the Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) several years ago when I lived in the area. I was super impressed! That memory stayed with me during a move away and then a move back, after retiring from working with animals for 42 years. Now that I’m back, I reached out to offer to volunteer there. After finishing an impressive and thorough volunteer training program recently, I am now volunteering there. My memories were correct. Now that I’m there regularly, I’m even more impressed! Keep up the great work Team PMMC!!

Amazing staff and volunteers and always super knowledgeable on all the seals and sea lions they are taking care of. Love visiting and seeing all the animals recovering.

Pacific Marine mammal Center rescues, rehabilitates, and returns to the wild marine mammals who are sick, injured and malnourished. I am a docent, and visitors love seeing the animals and hearing their stories. Visitors also love watching the sea lions chase each other and play. The sea lions are the most playful of all the species we treat at the center.

They are wonderful stewards of our marine life and oceans.

The mission of the PMMC is to rescue, rehabilitate, and release marine mammals and inspire ocean stewardship through research, education, and collaboration. This mission drives all of the organization's efforts. I have volunteered at the PMMC in animal care for more than a decade and have witnessed first-hand the care, energy, and resources that are invested in giving each patient a second chance at a long and healthy life. The PMMC staff, medical team, and volunteers are committed to providing top-notch care to marine mammals and to providing future generations with the knowledge and tools to protect our oceans. This is a well-run, mission-driven nonprofit that I am proud to support with my time and donations.

PMMC helps to ensure the future of our pinnipeds. The research helps to improve our future.

Pacific Marine Mammal Center has been rescuing Marine mammals plus sometimes birds like Pelicans etc for 50 years. The have save 1000’s of lives, giving these animals a second chance of survival, were if they didn’t exist these mammals wouldn’t have had a chance. Hats off to all the Volunteers and staff that play such an IMPORTANT role in our eco system and Ocean Conservacy. Thank you for also your Educational programs to help our Eco system become the best. HATS OFF, Thank you to a job WELL DONE!! Thank you, ������������������

PMMC is a wonderful organization that started 50 years ago to rescue seals and sea lions. The work they do is remarkable caring for 200 animals a year.

The sea lions rescued are usually babies who have lost their mothers. The elephant seals that are rescued are usually unable to care for themselves because their mother leaves them after only one month.The animal care workers teach these babies to dive for fish. They have the cutest faces with huge eyes and long whiskers. I couldn't help falling in love with them.

There is no admission fee and when you arrive you will be warmly greeted by the friendly and knowledgeable docents.

4 years ago i visited PMMC. I was so I'm impressed with docent that gave me a tour, that i ended up becoming a docent myself. Its very rewarding to be a part of these marine mammals rescue and rehabilation and eventually released back to their home.

I am more and more inspired by the people and the mission of Pmmc everyday. Celebrating 50 years of ocean and marine mammal conservation onward and upward!

I have volunteered with this organization for the past five years. They continue to change for the better, reinvest in the volunteers and facilities, and continue to expand into other areas, such as research. I believe this is a critical area as marine life will have to evolve due to climate warming and we (humans) should observe and assist with this evolution.

This place is truly AMAZING!!!
If you haven't been & if you care at all about animals, do yourself a favor...go visit! It's FREE! The wonderful people there rescue sick/injured seals & sea lions from San Diego to Long Beach. Then they will bring them back to their facility where they have doctors & staff that do whatever is necessary to heal & rehabilitate them!! Once the animals can eat on their own and are healthy, they are released back into their ocean home!! It is SO heartwarming!
When you visit, you can see these beautiful creatures while they are healing. There are babies all the way up to older mammals, but one look into their eyes & you can't help but get hooked!
The docents are extremely knowledgeable & polite. You can just tell how much they care! The little gift shop (Treasure Trove) is jam packed with items such as books, stuffed animals, t-shirts & jewlery just to name a few of the things they carry.....for all ages! If you make a purchase, I understand proceeds go to helping the animals....and they certainly won't turn down a donation if you can swing it! Everything helps the animals!!!
Go check it out, I can't imagine you will be disappointed!!!!!

PMMC is dedicated to saving marine mammals, but also to educating people, especially young people, to the importance of the marine environment. The programs for kids, outreach to the public, educational focus, knowledge of the docents, research programs on the cutting edge, all point to the outstanding contribution this organization makes to bettering lives of people, animals, and society. Enough cannot be said about the importance of this organization to making life better for all that come into contact with it.

Pacific Marine Mammal Center is multifaceted beyond what most people know. PMMC rescues sick and injured marine mammals along OC's coastline and then rehabilitates them before releasing them back to their ocean home. Beyond that, PMMC has a research program looking into the causes and how we might mitigate human impact on the ocean. Further PMMC has an extensive marine science and conservation education program that educates around 10K kids a year in orange county and across the globe through virtual learning. Additionally, PMMC has free community programming that is aimed at helping children with disadvantaged backgrounds, children's hospitals and veterans through the inspirational stories of the patients at PMMC. The impact of this facility on the community at large is quite amazing.

One of the things I truly miss during this pandemic is volunteering at PMMC. We have been closed the past 4 months so my Monday afternoons have been sadly quiet without my barking patient friends. Nothing puts a smile on everyones face faster than a pool full of frolicking sea lions. Even while closed, PMMC keeps the volunteers informed through emails and private visits as to who our new patients are and who has been released to go home. I volunteer with another organization that has made no effort to stay in touch with us. I look forward to PMMC reopening because it always puts our guests, as well as myself, in the best of moods.

The caring and passion they have for rehabilitating marine mammals is incredible. It amazes me that most of the people who care for the animals are volunteers working without pay. They have great vets overseeing and leading the animal care team. Seeing the animals when then arrive so weak, then when they are healthy and released back to the ocean is a life changing event. The team at PMMC are inspiring!

This organization works tirelessly to help marine mammals in need. I am so honored to be one of the many volunteers that help educate the public about our pinnipeds.

My first experience with PMMC was a field trip with my kindergarten daughter and her Girl Scout Daisy Troop. A few years later, I was the GS leader and our troop visited and donated a portion of our cookie sales. Then I became a docent there; once a week for almost five years. They are such an amazing organization! The hard work and love for these animals is evident in everything that they do. Watching a rescue of an emancipated pup, their recovery and then release is so heartwarming. Please support this organization because they do so much good! In addition to rescuing animals, they educate children and give back to the community. I am looking forward to being able to volunteer again.

I am so proud to be a volunteer at this amazing organization! To be a part of a true team that is tirelessly dedicated to giving these animals a second chance at life and return them back into the wild, is so fulfilling. PMMC continuously strives to educate the public about these mammals and their ocean environment, and inspires us all to create positive change.

I have been volunteering at PMMC for almost a year and can clearly see the love and care this organization has for all the animals they rescue. They want to share their knowledge with others about our oceans environment and the animals that occupy it with sincere care and facts. They teach young people and old alike about environmental hazards and teach people how they can be stewards to protect our seas and wildlife. It's a wonderful organization and deserves much credit for all it does!! I highly recommend all to visit and support its great goals and accomplishments!

I have been a volunteer docent at the center for nearly 4 years. Their mission and focus has consistently been the rescue and rehabilitation of marine mammals and educating the public on environmental stewardship. Additionally the current leadership team is responsive to the social and community issues of the day and is adapting through proactive training and policy guidance to ensure that they remain a leader in the community.

I have been a volunteer for almost 6 years and love it. I love the education programs and how low income students can come

I volunteered at PMMC as a visitor yard docent from December 2018-December 2019. It was a great experience with a wonderful organization. The dedication and caring the staff and volunteers have for their patients is clear in all aspects of their work. In addition to rehabilitating and releasing sick and injured mammals, they provide outreach education programs for school children through their field trips and summer camps. In addition, there is a program for veterans and many other opportunities ongoing. The visitor yard welcomes people from all over the world, and many shared that they followed PMMC online.

I've witnessed this amazing organization first hand on rescues and they are top notch and great leaders in their field!

Volunteering at PMMC is like joining a family! It is a great place and you feel good to be a part of something so special.

A little over a year ago I was recommended to visit the PMMC by a professor at CSUF. I’ve been volunteering there since February and it has been the best part of this year for me. I love everyone there and I also love learning all about the beautiful animals we work with!

I have been a docent for this wonderful organization for 4-5 years. I appreciate their dedication and hard work to rescue and rehabilitate injured or sick marine mammals. It is so rewarding to be a small part of this effort and to help educate the visitors and public to the work of PMMC.

This is an amazing nonprofit organization. It truly embodies all the good attributes of a staff that cares about their cause. I feel blessed to help PMMC with the goal to reduce water consumption by 90% with the water reclamation project. The teams dedication to this en devour is unwavering with the help of the city of Laguna Beach, we will make this goal a reality.

I have had the privilege of being an education docent with PMMC for a little over 4 months. What I have learned and how I have been able to share with the visitors is amazing. Everyone who comes to visit is so eager to learn about the mammals and are grateful for our organization.
The way the staff and volunteers care for the animals and dedicate their time to this wonderful cause is inspiring. Everyone goes above and beyond to share information within the organization. They want everyone to be involved in what is going.
I love being part of a team that is selfless and the camaraderie is very special. Everyone comes together to achieve something bigger than ourselves.

PMMC is one of the best non-profits I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. Not only do they do a great job rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing seals and sea lions from up and down Orange County coasts, but they take an active role in trying to educate the public about these amazing animals and how we can all play a part in reducing the negative impact we have on our oceans and the animals that live there. The passion and dedication shown by everyone at PMMC is truly inspiring and I’m honored to get to volunteer with such an amazing team.

This is an amazing organization with the greatest staff and volunteer group there is. So many dedicated people with big hearts working together to give these beautiful animals a second chance at life. Not only are the animals extremely loved and well taken care of by the animal care teams, staff and docent volunteers work hard to educate the public on the animals, their environment and things we can all do in our day to day lives to help keep the oceans clean and healthy. Not to mention all the field trips, beach clean ups, summer camps and more! This is a very special place! ❤️

Pacific Marine Mammal Center not only rescues and rehabilitates marine mammals, it has an exemplary education program that reaches over 60,000 people. They have an online educational program for children's hospitals across the country, they have several that reach title one schools and children at risk, their main educational goal is to create ocean stewards and beyond that they even have a program for veterans struggling with reintegration!

I truly believe in the mission of Pacific Marine Mammal Center. The organization is committed to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of marine mammals, saving hundreds a year, giving them second chances at life. Their focus on education, and research has moved to the next level as they educate others how to become ocean stewards and to create a better ocean for the environment we all share with these animals. It’s great to be apart of this organization!

This is a great little place to visit to remind yourself that there are people in this world who work hard to do the right things. They drop everything to rescue injured animals and pour their heart into saving them. They have expanded their vision to embrace conservation and focus on educating those who will change the world - children. There is more hardwork and dedication packed into this small space than anywhere I know.

This worthy organization deserves recognition for its structure, outreach in community, and mission that is providing these marine mammals a safe environment in which to heal. Many dedicated people devote countless hours toward the efforts of education and research that expands the mission of education for conservation of our oceans and the animals that live in it. As a veterinarian, I wholly support the efforts of this organization and gladly offer pro bono service to help their efforts to rescue, rehabilitate and release the seals and sea lions back to the wild.

Incredible organization devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of pinnipeds. Every volunteer is tirelessly devoted to the cause, volunteering their time and resources. Visitors are able to witness the rehabilitation aspect of the PMMC, seeing recovering patients at the center and joining them on their journey through rescue to release via social media and the website.

Watching the lives that PMMC have changed and saved has been so inspiring to me. The pride the team feels when our patients are released happy and healthy is like no other. I am so proud to be a part of such a wonderful organization!

I am an animal care volunteer and the staff at this center is extremely focused on the rehabilitation of our patients. In addition, they care about the well-being and safety of the volunteers.

They are fantastic caring for the animals. The staff is very knowledgeable and friendly.

I've had the privilege of being an educational docent at PMMC for 5 years. I also get to teach about ocean stewardship to many young children. It is so exciting to see their enthusiasm to want to help take care of the environment. Seeing our recovering patients, many the victims of human impact, really helps to make the lessons much more real and meaningful to our visitors. It feels so good to be a part of that!

A great team of people helping a very great cause! All the volunteers and staff are extremely caring, helpful, kind and honest. Everyone is dedicated to the same cause of saving our beautiful marine mammals!

PMMC's mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and release marine mammals in the Orange County area. In addition to their dedication to these beautiful sea creatures, PMMC's commitment to educating children and adults is outstanding. I have volunteered at PMMC for 3 years and during that time I have witnessed countless rescues and releases. I have also watched the dedicated staff of volunteers as well as the paid staff. It never grows old watching a sick harbor seal, fur seal, sea lion or elephant seal come into the center and then witness their healthy release back to their ocean home!

Passion is the best word to describe all the people at PMMC. From the care of the sick and injured animals to the outreach to the community their goal is to preserve our world, the creatures in it, and to teach others how they can help in fun and creative ways. This is a don’t miss stop if you are near the area. Volunteering here is one of the most fulfilling thing I have done in a long time!

I currently volunteer at it and I love doing my jobs. The stuff is so nice everyone is nice. Come visit soon

The passion and commitment to the health and well being of Seals and Sea Lions from the staff and volunteers at Pacific Marine Mammal Center will melt your heart and give you hope for our oceans. From rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing these beautiful marine mammals, from educating school kids to seniors and educating our visitors in the yard, all of us at PMMC share the love of Pinnipeds.

I've had the serious pleasure of volunteering with PMMC for over 5 years now in the animal care department. It's a weekly commit and one that I look forward to as the impact we are making on marine life and our oceans is so obviously apparent. PMMC puts the animals first and every single team member truly cares about the mission and the impact we're making.

A very inspiring place to visit and the volunteers are the best. This facility gives so much back to the community in so many ways and teaches children to be good Ocean stewards. Can’t say enough about PMMC.

The mission:
Pacific Marine Mammal Center rescues, rehabilitates and releases marine mammals and inspires ocean stewardship through research, education and collaboration.
I have volunteered for the past 5 years in different roles at PMMC. In each position I have learned new skills; each day I walk away with a new perspective on the marine mammals that we rescue and the environment in which they/we live. Hands on learning is ongoing as a volunteer. Being part of a team, all working to give back to a cause that we believe in, is the heart and soul of the Center. The world is rarely changed by one individual. Instead it is through the collective efforts of a group of passionate, committed people, working together, that makes the difference - creates the change. That is what we have at Pacific Marine Mammal Center. How honored I am to be a volunteer!! Come visit PMMC!! All visitors are welcome. Admission is free (*$1 donation buys a pound of fish) 7 days a week - 10:00am - 4:00pm.

as one of the founders of the Pacific Marine Mammal center in 1971 , I have watched this organization grow from a handful of volunteers to a world class nonprofit with over 100 volunteers and a full staff of professionals that work hard to rescue, rehabilitate and release marine mammals back into their environment .
As a former Marine Biology teacher I know that Educating the public about the issues facing marine life today Is one of their most important goals. I am proud of what this world class non profit has become .It gives me such joy to still be an active part of the PMMC over these years

I have been volunteering at PMMC since January 2015. I have done a variety of things, animal care, docent, and outreach events. I love it! I have learned so much!

Visiting is a great way to see the awesome work they do. After a few visits I had to volunteer & get involved the seals & sea lions will steal your heart!

This place and organization is such an asset not only to the marine mammals they rehabilitate and coastline ,but also our future generation , educating the community on marine and environmental issues .

It's a must visit when in Laguna Beach! Such a special place and so important for the wildlife.

I took a break from the corporate world to do some volunteer work for a few months after suffering loses in my family. This is when the passion started and now it has been almost 10 years later and the passion is even stronger. Wild seals and sea lions are incredible creatures and the joy of seeing one be released that was so ill or injured when it arrived is so rewarding. You can make a difference in each animal you help return home. They all can't survive because some do not strand until they are to far gone. For those you can at least aliveate their suffering.