Bill Text: CA SCR39 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Senate Concurrent Resolution 39 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Marine Mammal Rescue Day.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-2)

Status: (Passed) 2017-05-16 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 48, Statutes of 2017. [SCR39 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SCR39-Chaptered.html

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 39

CHAPTER 48

Relative to Marine Mammal Rescue Day.

[ Filed with Secretary of State May 16, 2017. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SCR 39, Atkins. Marine Mammal Rescue Day.

This measure would recognize April 27, 2017, as Marine Mammal Rescue Day and would commend the Marine Mammal Stranding Network for its continued commitment to the rescue, rehabilitation, and return of animals residing off the California coast.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, A record 6,000 stranded California sea lions, harbor seals, elephant seals, and other mammals were rescued off the California coast in 2015 and 2016; and

WHEREAS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries officially declared 2016 the continuation of an unusual mortality event due to record numbers of marine mammal strandings; and

WHEREAS, Since 2014, a mass of unusually warm water, which has come to be known as “the Blob,” has hovered and swelled in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of North America, and has played havoc with marine wildlife, water quality, and regional weather; and

WHEREAS, Researchers believe that warm water anomalies, such as El Niño storms and the Blob, as well as warming coastal waters, likely brought on by climate change, are impacting the availability of food for marine mammals and resulting in mass strandings; and

WHEREAS, The Northcoast Marine Mammal Center, the Marine Mammal Center, the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute, the California Wildlife Center, the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles, the Marine Animal Rescue, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, and SeaWorld San Diego all compose the California Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and work tirelessly with limited and donated resources to rescue and rehabilitate stranded marine mammals and conduct important research; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, thousands of these animals were successfully rehabilitated and returned to the ocean for a second chance at life; and

WHEREAS, The rescue and rehabilitation efforts of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network also contribute to research that helps the scientific community better understand ocean health and the cause of mass marine mammal strandings; and

WHEREAS, Spring marks the height of the animal rescue season; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes April 27, 2017, as Marine Mammal Rescue Day, and commends the Marine Mammal Stranding Network for its continued commitment to the rescue, rehabilitation, and return of animals residing off the California coast; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.