What We Do

Rehabilitation

CIMWI’s facility supports acute and long-term medical care and rehabilitation. The Hospital has four indoor animal quarantine pens with both dry and wet areas. The facility also has two outdoor pens which are used for patients as they progress in their rehabilitation. These pens are on an above ground deck and each pen has a fiberglass pool (6' in diameter, 4' deep).

Dedicated volunteers provide daily supportive rehabilitation care for the marine mammals in rehabilitation. This includes observing the patients, following treatment plans set by the veterinary team, providing daily nutrition to the animals and cleaning the holding areas and treatment facilities. 

CIMWI provides medical care and rehabilitates marine mammals that have been rescued. CIMWI’s goal is to release the rehabilitated, healthy animals back to their natural, wild environment.

Animals are only released if CIMWI’s Chief Veterinarian is confident in their ability to successfully survive. Animals that are released are tagged with a roto-tag that has a unique number for research and identification purposes.

In order to facilitate successful re-introductions, rehabilitated marine mammals are released in areas with wild populations of the same species. Releases are done on local beaches with minimal human presence, in the Santa Barbara Channel or at one of the Channel Islands.

Many of CIMWI’s releases are done from the CONDOR Express, Southern California’s premier whale watching and charter vessel. For more information on the CONDOR Express, click here.