“What is MARS?”
By Sergeant Bobby Randazzo, Supervisor Marine Operations, SIB Police Dept.

What is MARS? Mars is the fourth planet from the sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the “Red Planet” because of its reddish appearance as seen from the Earth. No, no, no, not Mars, the planet, but M.A.R.S., the organization, which stands for the Marine Animal Rescue Society.

M.A.R.S. is a federally recognized 501(c) nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of marine animals. M.A.R.S. was founded in 1996 and holds a Letter of Agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to rescue, rehabilitate, and release marine mammals, dolphins and whales, stranded in South Florida. They are also permitted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rescue and transport manatees. They are based out of Miami Dade County and cover stranding occurrences from Miami-Dade County through Martin County. They often travel from Key West to the Panhandle to conduct trainings seminars for volunteers, Law Enforcement, first responders and to offer support and coordination during stranding events.

On Friday, August 17, 2007, I received a call from Ms. Pamela Sweeney asking for my assistance with a deceased bottlenose dolphin. It appeared the dolphin had gotten entangled in a lobster trap buoy line and strangled itself. It was not certain, at that time, if any wrong doings had occurred. Along with the City of Aventura’s Marine Patrol Officer, Mike Hayton, we responded to the Miami Beach Marine Patrol Center located at 18th Street and Purdy Drive in Miami Beach. The dolphin was brought in to shore, loaded in the back of our pickup truck, and transported to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, N.O.A.A., located on the Rickenbacker Bridge next to the Sea Aquarium, for a necropsy. The necropsy report determined the cause of death of the bottlenose dolphin was drowning due to entanglement in an illegal lobster pot line. What a shame for such a precious part of our marine world. This stranding event sparked my interest in being trained to properly handle any stranding event that might happen in our city.

So with the help of Ms. Pamela Sweeney and Nicole O’Brien, I hosted a two-hour Law Enforcement Training Seminar to be held at our station on Wednesday, September 26th, 2007. Ms. Sweeney is an Environmental Specialist II employed by the Department of Environmental Protection and an employee of M.A.R.S. Ms. Sweeney has been instrumental in assisting me with education, signage problems and awareness group meetings to help protect our Manatee population in and around the State of Florida.

The training seminar was attended by Law Enforcement Agencies from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties including the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the Bal Harbour Police Department, the Golden Beach Police Department, the Aventura Police Department, our Sunny Isles Beach Lifeguard unit and our marine staff. We were given proper instruction on why stranding occurs, proper first responder techniques and the Federal Agencies that should be contacted which include the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC.

If you should see any marine mammal stranding, please call your Sunny Isles Beach Police Department or the FFWCC as soon as possible so we have an opportunity to save these precious marine mammals.

Pamela Sweeney teaching the class in the first floor meeting room.

Nicole O'Brien and Pamela Sweeney, both from MARS

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