By Josie Gulliksen

Two decades ago, Robert Lingenfelser said goodbye to an engineering and commercial diving career overseas and welcomed a new one in marine mammal conservation. His vocational transformation was inspired by an emotionally charged stint in the Keys he spent volunteering for marine mammal rescue efforts at Key Largo’s Dolphins Plus.

“In 1987 I was visiting my brother and 4-year-old nephew in the Keys, who lived right around the corner from Dolphins Plus, when the call went out for volunteers for a rescue effort,” Lingenfelser said. “I went to help out and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Born and raised in Savannah, Ga., he quickly became part of a group called the Pod Squad, volunteers who, through Dolphins Plus, performed rescue and rehab efforts in the Florida Keys in the late ‘80s and early ’90s.

By 1992, following a discovery by Dr. Greg Bossart, the group had become the Marine Mammal Rescue Foundation.

“During a 1991 rescue effort, Dr. Bossart discovered a marine mammal virus,” said Lingenfelser. “So to keep up with rehab and rescue demands, the foundation was formed as an offshoot of Dolphins Plus.”

In 1995 Rick Borguss, who runs Dolphins Plus, Lingenfelser and the other volunteers that operated with the foundation formed the Marine Mammal Conservancy and Lingenfelser immediately became president.

In 2003, the conservancy absorbed the foundation. Today, the MMC covers rescues from the Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of Key West, to Biscayne National Park along the southeast edge of the Florida peninsula.

The volunteer–based MMC, which operates without paid staff, is among a small number of active U.S. marine mammal conservancy organizations. When volunteers aren’t busy dealing with stranded animals, they’re raising funds to expand their scope and reach.

Fundraising efforts support an archaeological collection and educational items to be displayed in a museum that’s currently under construction. The group also is building a fish kitchen where they can prep food for the animals under their care.

On a larger scale, the MMC is devising a master plan to build a major research center for marine mammals that will have a more regional scope, allowing for more rehabilitation, releases and further research.

What continues to drive Lingenfelser’s passion for his work? It’s based, he says, on an immediate connection with the animals and the realization that they are thinking, feeling, self-aware creatures. He’s also driven by the fact that relatively little is known about the world’s oceans.

“We know very little about marine mammals and offshore species, so there are a whole lot of scientific reasons for doing this work — like the health of our oceans and stopping the spread of disease,” Lingenfelser said. “In 1992 dolphins and whales were discovered to be sentinel species, which means they are vital in our research on the health of our oceans.”

He has felt a connection with marine mammals since he first began working with them. Several remain imprinted in his memory, such as Briny, a premature baby sperm whale born with an undersized heart that they found beached at two weeks old, who slept on volunteers’ laps.

Then there was Dark Angel, an aggressive and uncooperative pilot whale who was part of a massive beaching in 2003. Lingenfelser and one other volunteer were the only ones who could handle her. She also disliked the other pilot whales. To channel her aggression and keep the volunteers and other whales safe, a face was painted on a buoy and Dark Angel attacked it regularly.

Lingenfelser emphasizes that when animals are found beached, their natural instinct is to defend themselves. Therefore, it’s vital to pay attention to their behavior, know how to handle them and, most of all, build a relationship with them over time.

Clearly, these are guidelines Lingenfelser lives by. Just as he did during the 1987 visit that changed his life, he continues to forge strong and meaningful bonds with each new creature that comes under his care.