RESCUE & REHABILITATION

Steve McCulloch is authorized by NOAA Fisheries to conduct scientific research and has led and executed more than forty high-risk multi-agency open-water interventions to safely rescue, evaluate, and treat entangled and out-of-habitat cetaceans.

He is the Executive Director of Stranding Operations for Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder (DPMMR). He is also a skilled offshore boat pilot and navigator whose efforts have earned him awards and recognition from the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Steve developed Dolphin First™, an approach to marine mammal care that prioritizes the animal’s health and welfare above all else. He has used this approach with more than a dozen cetacean and pinniped species, including numerous species of dolphins and whales. Steve remains forefront on evolving practices and protocols to insure that marine mammals in human care thrive in optimum environments where their needs are fully anticipated and provisioned.

Safe transport of cetaceans—often essential in their rescue and rehabilitation—requires the high-level expertise, years of experience, honed intuition, and logistical planning that Steve can provide.