February 2025: The Central Response Network was transitioned to be under NC Aquariums. 

The Central Response Network responds to stranding calls from Camp Lejeune north to Ocracoke, encompassing all inland estuaries, rivers, and creeks.  

September 2024: Jennette's Pier was awarded $99K from the federal Prescott Grant Program for FY2024-2025 

This award will sustain our Central Stranding Response Program. 

February 2024: Enrichment Lecture Series for our volunteers and staff.  

This winter, we plan to kick off an Enrichment Lecture Series for our volunteers and staff to attend. These lectures will cover a range of topics, including stranding history, species ecology and behavior, current trends, and science and research. We will strive to create a community where all can get involved and engage in discussion with leaders in the field of marine mammalogy. 

August 2023:  Jennette's Pier was awarded $98K from the federal Prescott Grant Program for FY2023-2025. 

This award will sustain our Outer Banks Stranding Program through 2026. 

December 2022:  New Legislation: Marine Mammal Research and Response Act (MMRRA)  

The Marine Mammal Research and Response Act (MMRRA) was included as Title CIV in the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act (passed Dec 23, 2022). The MMRRA modifies the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, including the Prescott Grant Program, by expanding data and results to be available in HealthMAP and requiring three reports to Congress. The Marine Mammal Response Capabilities in the Arctic report is due within one year of enactment, with the NMFS Alaska Region’s Protected Resources Division as the lead. This report will describe the response capabilities of sick and injured marine mammals in the Arctic regions of the United States, as well as a temporal and spatial analysis of marine mammal strandings and unusual mortality events. 

NOAA's Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response program also finalized and approved the 2022 PEIS, which expands options for new stranding agreements, such as short-term triage and rehab, and updates protocols and guidelines for stranding response.     

October 2022:  The NC Aquariums Stranding Agreement was approved. 

Jennette's Pier, on behalf of North Carolina Aquariums, applied for a federal stranding agreement with NOAA to conduct marine mammal stranding responses. With the approval of this stranding agreement in October 2022, we can now officially have a volunteer program! We are thrilled to have this opportunity to expand our program on the Outer Banks!