Celebrating 20 years of marine animal conservation grants, the SeaWorld Conservation Fund announced 22 new grants made in 2022 to support third party research, rescue, and conservation programs to protect marine animals and their habitats. To date the non-profit Fund has provided more than US$20 million in grants to 1,391 organizations across all seven continents.
The 2022 grants directly benefited multiple marine species including coral reefs, dolphins, manatees, penguins, seals, seabirds, sea turtles and whales.
“We are committed to advancing animal conservation and preserving wildlife species and their natural habitats across the globe,” said Dr. Chris Dold, President of the SeaWorld Conservation Fund and Chief Zoological Officer of SeaWorld. “Protecting wildlife is no small mission and requires the teamwork and support of countless organizations focused on animal rescue and rehabilitation, conservation education, habitat protection and species research.
“We are proud to be able to provide financial support that helps these organizations continue the work imperative to our common goal of wildlife conservation,” he added.”
SeaWorld is one of the largest marine animal rescue organizations in the world and has come to the aid of more than 40,000 sick, injured, orphaned, and stranded marine animals with the goal of rehabilitating and returning healthy animals back to their native environment. The SeaWorld Conservation Fund honours this mission by supporting other organizations that share the same goal.
Among the 2022 grants were to:
• The Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network (TMMSN) to create increased capacity for marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation in the state of Texas.
• Coral Restoration Foundation for international coral reef restoration efforts which are carried out by a collaborative team of staff, interns, and countless volunteers.
• Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) for the conservation of southern African seabirds and their marine environment.
• Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Association (ARCAS) for protecting the most important sea turtle nesting beaches and mangrove wetlands of the Pacific coast of Guatemala.
• Alaska Sealife Center for research on non-releasable Alaskan ice seals to better understand their behavior patterns.
• AMPA-Friends of Manatee Association for monitoring an Amazon River dolphin population to watch their behavioral and reproductive patterns.
• Rising Tide Conservation for advancing sustainability in the marine aquarium industry by funding and promoting marine fish research.
• The Society for Marine Mammalogy for fostering international partnerships and collaborations to improve the quality of research on marine mammals within the science community.
In response to the damage caused by Hurricane Ian, the SeaWorld Conservation Fund also made emergency grants to 10 Florida zoological and wildlife rescue organizations impacted by the storm. Most organizations that applied for a SeaWorld emergency grant suffered from damaged fences, major flooding, habitat destruction, wind damage and other storm-related issues.