BRIGATINE, NJ - This winter, a DRASH 6XB Shelter will be housing seals recovering at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigatine, New Jersey. 

The shelter will serve as a triage area for the influx of seals typically brought into the center during the colder weather. 

Since its creation in 1978, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center has responded to over 3,450 strandings of whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles along the New Jersey coast. Robert Schoelkopf, the center’s founder and director, says that seals are one of the most common rescues.

“Because of warming trends, more and more seals are leaving the arctic and coming further down the eastern seaboard to escape competition for food,” explains Schoelkopf. “Unfortunately, many of them, especially the babies, wind up getting washed ashore.” 

The Center received three 413 square foot DRASH 6XB Shelters as a donation from a local government agency earlier this fall. While one will remain set up throughout the winter, the other two will serve as back up should a disaster, such as this spring’s BP oil spill, ever lead to a surge in animals at the center. 

“As a non-profit organization, we are very pleased to receive such a valuable donation because we do not have the funds to go out and acquire something like this on our own. The shelters provide just the right amount of warmth for the seals and the space we need to add additional tanks and expand our efforts,” says Schoelkopf.