Marine Mammal Center

The Marine Mammal Center is a nonprofit veterinary research hospital and educational center dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of ill and injured marine mammals – primarily elephant seals, harbor seals, and California sea lions. Since 1975, we’ve been headquartered in Sausalito, CA in the Marin Headlands within the Golden Gate National Parks, and have rescued and treated more than 16,000 marine mammals. The Marine Mammal Center is one of the largest marine mammal facilities in the world to combine animal rehabilitation and an onsite research lab, and the only one authorized by the National Marine Fisheries Service to rescue and treat marine mammals along the Central and Northern California coast. We can care for up to 200 seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals at once, and treat 800 or more during the year. Our facilities are designed and constructed to offer quality care and include an intensive care unit, special otter and cetacean facilities, an oil-spill response area, and pools built specifically for seals and sea lions. We also have an onsite lab and post-mortem room to support our research. To care for the large number of animals at our center at any given time, we operate a complex life-support system. Our Sausalito headquarters is open to the public and you’re welcome to visit to learn more about our work in person and to see staff and volunteers working with our patients.