Help us with our mission to improve and protect the life of all marine mammals, humans, and our shared oceans by becoming an NMMF donor today.

Your gift to the National Marine Mammal Foundation promotes cutting-edge research that protects wild dolphins, whales, and other marine mammals, supports our bold conservation work to save critically endangered species, makes it possible for our organization to collaborate with scientists around the globe, and helps us evaluate human impacts and other environmental changes on marine mammals and encourage young students to pursue an education and career in science. Please support the education, conservation and research efforts of the NMMF today.

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Major Gift Opportunities

A Year of Impact, Fueled by Compassion

Reflections of Gratitude from the NMMF's CEO & President, Dr. Cynthia Smith

On behalf of our team at the National Marine Mammal Foundation, I would like to express our most heartfelt gratitude. Your support made 2024 an extraordinary year for marine mammal medicine, science and conservation. Together, we are making a difference for the animals, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

This year, your generosity helped us:

  • Share our groundbreaking research in Science on minke whale hearing in Norway, to help inform international policies to better protect baleen whales from ocean noise.
  • Assess the health of Amazon river dolphins, a critical step in addressing the challenges posed by unprecedented climate change.
  • Develop cutting-edge clinical technology to monitor free-swimming dolphin heart rates and rhythms in San Diego Bay.
  • Empower communities in Kenya to protect Indian Ocean humpback dolphins, fostering local stewardship and sustainable conservation.
  • Eavesdrop on dolphins as they communicate underwater, to determine if changes in their sound production could reflect changes in their health.
  • Adapt a human medical device to collect capillary blood from dolphin skin, paving the way for remote blood collection from free-swimming dolphins and whales.
  • Expand our in-person Dolphin Doctor student workshops, inspired by the one-and-only Dr. Sam Ridgway, spreading our knowledge and passion to local and global communities.

Although the work is often challenging, your belief in our mission to care for, conserve, and protect marine mammals has inspired us daily. We hope you feel as proud of these milestones as we do. They are rooted in our shared love for the animals, for nature, and for our planet.

As we celebrate this season of giving, we look ahead to the possibilities of 2025. Marine mammals face immense challenges, but together, we can continue to make profound contributions to their care and conservation. We hope you will continue to lead the way, fueling our efforts with your compassion and unwavering commitment to the animals.

From all of us at the National Marine Mammal Foundation, we wish you a restorative holiday season filled with love, warmth, and hope. Thank you for being part of our family.

Yours,
Dr. Cynthia Smith, DVM
President & CEO
National Marine Mammal Foundation

Learn more about our projects in need of funding.

Operation GRACE

Your Donation will help the NMMF to leverage our team’s veterinary and conservation medicine expertise and aim to apply our unique veterinary perspective to holistic conservation programs targeted at protecting threatened and endangered marine mammals, their ecosystems, and the human communities that depend on them.

Marine Mammal Rescue

Your contribution will support our marine mammal rescue efforts on the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast. Our team relies on donations to rapidly respond when marine mammals need us most.

Dr. Sam Ridgway Fund

The Ridgway Fund will help carry on Sam’s life’s work, with a special focus on innovations in marine mammal science, medicine, and conservation.

Dr. Jeanette Fuller Ridgway Scientific Writing Fund

Contributions will allow the Dr. Jeanette Fuller Ridgway Scientific Writing Fund to support the ongoing development of literature that shares NMMF’s work with the scientific community and general public for years to come.

Community Engagement

The goal of NMMF’s Community Engagement program is to engage students through outreach events, spark their interest in STEM fields, and inspire them to care about marine mammals and our oceans. We are grateful that the initiative serves to honor our friend Jim Rohr, carry on his vision for NMMF outreach, and embolden what he started. With your generosity, we will continue our efforts to instill a sense of care and spark innovative thinking in our youth.

Vaquita Conservation

Your donation supports urgent action to save the vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal. With at least around 8 individuals remaining, they face extinction from fishing bycatch in the Sea of Cortez if urgent action is not taken. Operation Esperanza, led by experts from Mexico and the U.S., aims to safeguard the vaquita through innovative technology, science, community engagement, and the promotion of sustainable fishing practices. Join us to rewrite the vaquita’s story from the brink of extinction to a symbol of hope.

CGP Fund

In honor of our dear friend and colleague, Coll Perske, we have established the Coll Gordon Perske Memorial Fund for Marine Mammals. Your donation will directly support the CGP Fund’s efforts to improve the lives of marine mammals, with a focus on California sea lions, through scientific research, education, and promotion of ocean stewardship.

Stan Kuczaj Memorial Fund

On 14 April 2016, the scientific community lost Dr. Stan Kuczaj. For the past 20 years, Stan directed the Marine Mammal Behavior and Cognition Lab at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he inspired students and conducted novel dolphin cognition research. In honor of Stan’s memory, your gift to the Kuczaj Memorial Fund will support students and researchers who wish to examine questions involving animal cognition, behavior, and development.