The Manhattan Beach City Council on Tuesday night unanimously agreed to help fund the Marine Mammal Care Center, the nonprofit organization based in San Pedro that rescues and rehabilitates sea lions and other wildlife, a mission that has become especially vital as toxic algal blooms have become more frequent.

A number of factors led the MMCC to seek partnerships with cities and Los Angeles County. Dave Bader, the organization’s chief operations and education officer, told the council that historically about 85 percent of its funding came from individual donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors.

“We’re looking to change that, mostly because of the additional funds needed to respond to an ever increasing number of strandings year after year,” Bader said. “Not just in emergency years, but in regular years, whatever that is now. We’re seeing more strandings from everything — from the toxic algae bloom that we’re seeing right now to animals that are entangled, malnourished pups, infectious diseases, shark bites, all of those things will come to us, and those are increasing year after year.”

For thirty years, another nonprofit, Marine Animal Rescue, patrolled the coasts and transported sick animals to the Care Center. But MAR went bankrupt in 2022, and MMCC filled the void, extending its mission from operating its hospital to patrolling and transporting animals. At that very same time, toxic algal blooms, particularly domoic acid poisoning, went from being occasional to yearly. This year, those blooms started earlier, and were far more toxic. Biologists believe the Palisades fire runoff contributed to this increased toxicity. Unusually, the blooms, which usually impact only sea lions, seals, and birds, have led to numerous dolphin strandings and a few whales.

“This year was the worst stranding event in LA County history, in Southern California history, followed just two years ago by the worst ever at that time,” Bader said. “So we’re topping each other, year after year. We’ve actually had four years of continuous harmful algal bloom, with ‘23 and ‘25 being the worst of those two. And this one was especially bad. We had two different toxins out there in the environment, which we hadn’t seen before.”

The Marine Mammal Care Center covers all of Los Angeles County, from Long Beach to Malibu and including Catalina Island. So far this year, 250 animals have been stranded, compared to 71 in the same timeframe a year ago. According to Bader, 45 percent of strandings occur in the South Bay. MMCC has a staff of 22 and 380 volunteers. Its budget is $3.1 million.

“We are in a good position now,” Bader said. “We want to stay there, and find ways to ensure our financial stability. Agreements with local municipalities are one way that we are hoping to do that. We have agreements coordinated with four cities and pending with three others, and, happy to say not pending with the County anymore. We were able to secure funding from the County.”

LA County has committed $100,000 immediately and is working towards a $600,000 annual allocation to MMCC. Hermosa Beach has committed $35,000, Redondo Beach $60,000. The organization asked Manhattan Beach to commit $50,000 annually.

“We want to make sure that we’re there to not just rescue and rehabilitate marine mammals, to provide that conservation benefit, but we also provide health and human services,” Bader said. “We don’t want sea lions on the beaches where they can encounter people. And unfortunately, in LA County, there really isn’t a wild space for any marine mammal or any marine animal to come to the shore if they’re sick and have a place to rest without interacting with people.”

Mayor Amy Howorth and every member of the council expressed support for the proposed funding, though Mayor Pro Tem David Lesser expressed concerns about the three year commitment, noting the uncertainty of the City’s budgetary outlook. But Councilperson Nina Tarnay argued that this financial outlay was money extremely well spent.

“I see it as an obligation for our city from a health and safety perspective, in addition to really caring for the animals,” she said. So I think having those funds available serves those dual purposes, because if we don’t spend the money, we could end up spending more on the back end — if we don’t get ahead of the rescue efforts needed, and the education that is needed whenever there is a bloom.”

City Attorney Quinn Barrow said that many such multiple year contracts have appropriation clauses that enable the City to opt out of future years if financially necessary. The council voted 5-0 to make the appropriation.

Councilperson Joe Franklin thanked the Marine Mammal Care Center “for doing what you do.”

“It’s just incredible,” he said, later adding, “I think you need to focus on taking care of those animals. We can get you some help with the fundraising. So I fully support this, and look forward to being a closer partner with you.” ER