It’s been a busy winter for an organization at the Jersey Shore that’s dedicated to saving wildlife.
Brigantine's Marine Mammal Stranding Center said there has been an influx of young rescued seals keeping staffers on their toes.
Seals have started turning up on beaches weeks earlier than expected while dead dolphins have also washed up ashore in recent weeks.
"We had two bottlenose dolphins so far. They're usually not here until about April or May is when we usually start seeing strandings," Jay Pagel of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center told NBC10.
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Recently a baby seal had made its way to the streets in Ocean City and later died. Then another seal was found trapped in a rock jetty in Allenhurst.
That seal was rescued and released the next day while other stranded seals still receiving care at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
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Experts said ocean water temperatures are warmer than normal this winter and could be playing a part in this spike.
"They're going to come here to eat and to have their babies because the water is warmer for them," Marine Mammal Stranding Center Director Sheila Dean said. New Jersey's state climatologist David Robinson said oceans are warmer globally. An El Nino weather pattern in the Pacific is only part of the equation.
"This is an El Nino event in addition to ongoing global warming. So the two have tagged up this year to make for a very mild situation across the world's oceans," Robinson said.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center said expenses are mounting and they are holding a full-fledged fundraiser on March 12.
"Things are getting more expensive. I have to be able to pay my people enough money to make them want to stay here," Dean told NBC10.
To learn more about the Marine Mammal Stranding Center click here.
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