CCRRC

The Center for Cetacean Research & Rescue & Conservation is located near Orlando, Florida. It is one of the most important places in the world for marine mammal studies. A lot of research of the behavior and abilities of marine mammals is being done here. The center also has great importance because of its specialized rescue facilities. They help stranded porpoises, sick dolphins, entangled sea turtles, lost otters and so on! The marine mammal rehabilitation building has 2 indoor pools and 1 outdoor pool. The building can be accessed quickly by car or helicopter. Most animals that have been threatened in the center will return to the wild, where they belong. Last year, CCRRC released 8 Harbor porpoises and several other animals back into the wild. If animals are not fit enough to return to the wild, they'll stay in the park and help biologists and scientists to gain more information about the species. The center is open to the public, large areas of the park can be accessed. Visitors can have an inside look of the rescue facilities or get educated about the wonderful marine life.

Entrance

This is the front office. The visitors can enter the park here, while there are staff entries on both sides of the visitor entrance. There are several office buildings and a souvenir shop. Note that the concrete (grey) paths are visitor areas and the sand (yellow) paths are staff areas.

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Cetacean Rescue

As promised, I will show you the Cetacean Rescue building. The building is located in a corner of the lot, very close to the helicopter platform. There is a special 'emergency' entry (the low glass part on the right), which leads directly to the first indoor pool. In the upper right corner of the building is a storage space, and on the second floor an office. The room in the lower right corner is the hallway, which includes a small kitching. Obviously there's a shower and toilet there as well.

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Porpoise Bay

Porpoise Bay is the name of the Harbour Porpoise enclosure in CCRRC. The first two inhabitants of the exhibit were Berend and Gerhard. They were both stranded when they were very young, and were unable to return to the wild. Last year, another Harbour Porpoise was unreleasble and she joined Berend and Gerhard in Porpoise Bay. Her name is Daisy. This year, Daisy, who is at least 5 years old, gave birth to a baby boy. He was named Guus. He's already grown into a very fat porpoise! Unfortunately, a few months ago, Berend got very ill and he passed away.

Porpoise Bay consists out of two connected main pools. There is also a small medical pool, which is only used rarely. There is a viewing window for visitors, so they can see the Harbour Porpoises under water. The animals, curious as they are, find this even more fun than the visitors!