Michael G

Review of The Marine Mammal Center

I first learned about The Marine Mammal Center fro...

I first learned about The Marine Mammal Center from watching the TV shows 'Sea Rescue' and 'Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin' on my local ABC station. When I started researching my trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, I came across this place, put two and two together realizing this was the place I had see on TV multiple times and knew that I had to visit here! Even though I was aware of what The Marine Mammal Center does and I'm very knowledgeable with pinnipeds (pinnipeds are a clade of seals, sea lions, and walruses) I still learned a lot, especially on the docent-led tour. Even though you definitely could just walk around yourself and read the signage, I highly recommend you do the docent-led tour because it is very interesting. Driving to The Marine Mammal Center from either the North over the Golden Gate Bridge you get scenic views of the Marin Headlands (The Marine Mammal Center is located within the Marin Headlands). If you do not have a car to drive directly to The Marine Mammal Center, it's a hassle to get there by taking public transportation, so I took a cab there. Luckily, my San Francisco cab driver had been to The Marine Mammal Center before so he was familiar with how to get there. To get back, to San Francisco, I also took a cab but because there was very minimal phone service near there in the Marin Headlands (I have Sprint) I had to use The Marine Mammal Center's landline phone, which was very nice of them to let me use. If you plan to do the docent-led tour I recommend scheduling time still to walk around yourself so you look at the animals more and read more of the signs, plus they have a great gift shop (you can also purchase gift shop items from their website). Unlike some other not-for-profit animal rescue centers around the world, this place has fantastic, well-maintained facilities. All the employees and volunteers help to save so many animals every year, including harbor seals, fur seals, elephant seals, and sea lions. The Marine Mammal Center is even helping to increase the Hawaiian Monk Seal's population which is critically endangered. I highly recommend visiting The Marine Mammal Center and supporting the great work that they do.