Keith Matassa quoted in Press Herald story on harbor seal research program

Keith Matassa, coordinator of ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ's Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center, was interviewed for a May 2, 2011 story on a group of scientists' efforts to catch and tag harbor seals for on on-going research project. The survey will help scientists determine how the population is faring and whether the number of seals unintentionally killed by humans, such as those caught in the nets of ground fishermen, are reaching unsustainable levels. Matassa said that the ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ center rehabilitated 125 harbor seals last year and already has six harbor pups born prematurely this spring. Normally the center has one or two a year, said Matassa, who helped in the capture effort off Rockland last week. "These seals tell us what is affecting them." The research is being conducted for the Woods Hole Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Massachusetts.

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The ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.