Rendering surgery room at the proposed Marine Mammal Care Center in Redondo Beach. (Image Courtesy Gensler)
Rendering of a classroom at a new Marine Mammal Care Center in Redondo Beach. (Image Courtesy Gensler)
Aerial view of campus for a new Marine Mammal Care Center at Redondo Beach harbor. (Image Courtesy Gensler)
Rendering of proposed $65 million Marine Mammal Care Center in Redondo Beach. (Image Courtesy Gensler)
New and remodeled pools at the at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach on Monday, June 8, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Marine Mammal Responder Jules Léon, center, delivers two rehabilitated sea lion pups to Hermosa Beach on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
A rehabilitated sea lion poses for a picture at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro. This sea lion will soon be released back to the ocean. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Heckscher)
One of three sea lion pups makes its way to the ocean in Manhattan Beach after getting nursed to health by the Marine Mammal Care Center on Friday May 29, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Mayor Joe Franklin joins volunteers with the Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC) to celebrate the release of three sea lion pups in Manhattan Beach on Friday May 29, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
A volunteer with the Marine Mammal Care Center opens the cages for three sea lion pups being released in Manhattan Beach on Friday May 29, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
People watch the release of three rehabilitated sea lion pups by the Marine Mammal Care Center at the Redondo Beach Pier on Friday March 20, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Volunteers with the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles carry three rehabilitated sea lion pups for release at the Redondo Beach Pier on Friday March 20, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Three rehabilitated sea lion pups are released into the ocean by the Marine Mammal Care Center at the Redondo Beach Pier on Friday March 20, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Volunteers with the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles carry three rehabilitated sea lion pups for release at the Redondo Beach Pier on Friday March 20, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Sea lions suffering from neurological conditions and malnutrition are treated at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Sea lions suffering from neurological conditions caused by a toxic bloom off the Malibu coast are treated at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Sea lions suffering from neurological conditions and malnutrition are treated at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. A toxic bloom off Malibu is sickening sea lions and causing them to strand on beaches in LA, OC and Ventura counties. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Spectators look on as the Marine Mammal Care Center releases four sea lions that have been treated and rehabilitated for injuries or malnutrition, on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Redondo Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Sea lions that became ill from toxic algae bloom around at LA beaches in early and mid June have now recovered thanks to care at the Marine Mammal Center Los Angeles in San Pedro. Today two of the sea lion were released back to the ocean in Marina del Rey on Thursday, August 10, 2023. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center speaks at a press conference regarding the large number of sea lions recovering from deadly algal bloom, in San Pedro on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The Los Angeles Unified School District which owns the property that the MMCC is on has partnered with them to offer triage care for sea lions in a temporary outdoor space to accommodate the animals in the unfolding emergency conditions. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
John Warner, president of the Marine Mammal Care Center, speaks at a press conference to address the recent sea lion crisis. In recent weeks, dozens of sea lions have fallen ill due to a significant algae bloom along the coast and a resting place has been designated for sick sea lions in Marina del Rey on Thursday, July 6, 2023. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Sea lions are recovering from deadly algal bloom at the Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC) in San Pedro on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. This years bloom has made sea lions sick all along the coast, creating a care crisis for the county of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Unified School District which owns the property that the MMCC is on has partnered with them to offer triage care for sea lions in a temporary outdoor space to accommodate the animals in the unfolding emergency conditions. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Sea lions are recovering from deadly algal bloom at the Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC) in San Pedro on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. This years bloom has made sea lions sick all along the coast, creating a care crisis for the county of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Unified School District which owns the property that the MMCC is on has partnered with them to offer triage care for sea lions in a temporary outdoor space to accommodate the animals in the unfolding emergency conditions. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Sea lions and their pups are recovering from deadly algal bloom at the Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC)
in San Pedro on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. This years bloom has made sea lions sick all along the coast, creating a care crisis for the county of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Unified School District which owns the property that the MMCC is on has partnered with them to offer triage care for sea lions in a temporary outdoor space to accommodate the animals in the unfolding emergency conditions. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
A California sea lion pup is trying to get its sick mother’s attention as the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro scrambles to cope with scores of animals sickened by the rapid growth of harmful algae along parts of the Southern California coast on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Kelsey Wong, wildlife rehab technician at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, helps care for California sea lion sickened by the rapid growth of harmful algae along parts of the Southern California coast on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
A California sea lion pup is trying to get its sick mother’s attention as the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro scrambles to cope with scores of animals sickened by the rapid growth of harmful algae along parts of the Southern California coast on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
“King,” the stranded sea lion pup, look for more food during the early days of his recovery at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro in January. He showed up in the kitchen of the King Harbor Yacht Club in Redondo Beach and club members contacted a rescuer for the Marine Mammal Care Center who picked him up. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
A stranded sea lion pup showed up in the kitchen of the King Harbor Yacht Club in Redondo Beach on Jan. 26, 2023, and was taken to the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro. (Photo courtesy of King Harbor Yacht Club )
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Rendering surgery room at the proposed Marine Mammal Care Center in Redondo Beach. (Image Courtesy Gensler)
Tucked away in a rambling hillside park on San Pedro’s southern coastline for decades, an innovative rescue facility for ailing sea lions and other ocean creatures is now within reach of a dream: building a new, much larger ocean-front facility in Redondo Beach that will take in more patients and have more public access.
Funding for the proposed three-story facility at King’s Harbor will receive $15 million in Proposition 4 funding, announced this week by state Sens. Ben Allen and Laura Richardson.
Overall, the campaign begins with $30 million in committed support, which includes the $15 million in Proposition 4 along with a $15 million philanthropic match from two local donors, with the plans to be formally announced Thursday, Oct. 1, at a Redondo Beach news conference.
That event will mark the launch of the capital campaign and the beginning of MMCC’s effort to secure the remaining funding needed to create one of the nation’s leading marine mammal rescue, rehabilitation, research and education facilities, a news release stated. The organization is actively seeking support from philanthropic foundations, corporations, government partners and individual donors.
MMCC has completed conceptual drawings for the site and is currently working to secure its architectural design and construction teams. The project will ultimately require various approvals and permits before construction can begin. It is hoped that construction would begin in 2029 and the center could be open as early as 2030.
The ambitious project is billed by the center as a “new, $65 million world-class” marine hospital serving L.A. County.
Located on the former Joe’s Crab Shack property at 230 Portofino Way, the future center is planned also to include public viewing areas where visitors can observe marine mammals throughout their rehabilitation and recovery, including viewing access to some surgeries.
The proposed facility will more than double MMCC’s rehabilitation capacity and feature expanded patient care pools, a state-of-the-art surgical suite, diagnostic and research laboratories, classrooms, meeting space and interactive exhibits open to the public. The center, according to a Redondo Beach news release, responds to more marine mammals per mile of coastline than anywhere else in the country.
For more than three decades, MMCC has served as Los Angeles County’s only year-round marine mammal rehabilitation center, responding to more marine mammals per mile of coastline than anywhere else in the country. Its service territory reaches from Long Beach to Malibu.
But its space is limited and somewhat remote. And because most of the center’s animals are retrieved from beaches north of Torrance, the drive to pick up suffering animals and then getting them back to San Pedro for sometimes urgently-needed treatment also can be long.
In 2023, the center had to set up a temporary triage area, with help from the Los Angeles Unified School District, when it became overwhelmed with sick animals stricken by a deadly coastal algae bloom.
The incident strained the center’s resources and the center was filled to capacity.
The San Pedro center, however, is expected to continue operating as an additional support location.
Proposed for the Redondo Beach oceanfront, the new facility will more than double the current capacity. It will include expanded patient care pools, ready access to needed saltwater, a state-of-the-art surgical suite, diagnostic and research laboratories, classrooms, meeting space and interactive exhibits that would be open to the public.
With a current shortage of treatment and rehabilitation pools — and no easy access to salt water which has to be brought in — the San Pedro facility’s limitations became increasingly evident, especially in years when there were mass strandings of sea life.
John Warner, who came onboard four years ago as chief executive officer of the nonprofit center, said in a telephone interview Tuesday, Sept. 29, that the old center already was face challenges as ocean wildlife needs grew and space was limited. Climate change and the warming of the Pacific especially has impacted the availability of ocean food for the natural survival of newborn pups, which often are among the beach-stranded patients brought into the clinic.
Warner said he was initially approached by Redondo Beach about joining in as a tenant with a plan for a multi-use wildlife center by then-Redondo Beach council member Bill Brand, who later became mayor but died in 2024. Several tenants would share the proposed facility.
After Brand’s death, the city’s current mayor, Jim Light, connected with Warner and discussions continued.
“I said, ‘By the way, I have zero dollars in the bank,” Warner said he told Redondo officials. “We’re coming at this with nothing except a whole lot of energy.”
Before he died, Brand and the council moved forward with a design for the overall center planned and asked Light if he knew any nonprofits.
Light took the lead after Brand’s death. Meanwhile, Warner said the optimum solution in their situation would be as a sole tenant. The city soon agreed that the project would become dedicated to the Marine Mammal Care Center alone.
Plans for King Harbor, Light said, noted that the public wanted an educational facility. In a written statement he said the plan will result in “an iconic building on our waterfront.”
And the area already is populated with sea lions, Light said in a telephone interview, noting there is also a sea lion barge provided off-shore.
“So that’s led us to where we are now,” Warner said as plans are moving quickly. “We’ve had a lot of conversations.”
Warner referred to the oceanfront setting as a marquee location for what is a mission.
“It’s a billboard (location) that says this issue and these animals, and the environment, deserve a prominent space,” Warner said.
The new center will be much bigger — while the San Pedro facility has only four small pools for the animals, this facility will have three large pools, three medium pools along with enclosures of various sizes designed to move animals and people in ways the current space can’t, Warner said. The access to salt water will permit the center to treat other species, such as sea turtles.
And animal drop-off vehicles will have their own space.
“There will be loading zones for rescue trucks coming through,” Warner added.
Beyond animal care, the new center will serve as a regional hub for ocean education and workforce development. Through hands-on exhibits, STEM programming and career pathway initiatives, MMCC will connect thousands of students with opportunities in marine science, veterinary medicine, environmental communications and conservation — a major reason the City of Redondo Beach has agreed to a lease option for the site with MMCC.
The current Marine Mammal Care Center was established when Marineland of the Pacific, an aquatic-theme park on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, closed in 1986 and Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, a school textbook publisher, purchased the property.
Marineland staff members had handled marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation services in L.A. So as part of the sale agreement, the center was built on Los Angeles Unified School District land at Fort MaArthur, a former military installation within Angel’s Gate Park.
The Marine Mammal Care Center opened in 1992.
For the next 23 years, MMCC was managed by a foundation created and funded by HBJ.
In 2016, MMCC was granted 501(c)(3) status and became an independent nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire ocean conservation through marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, education and research.
Since then, the facility has taken in a growing number of animals, seeing a severe space crunch during crisis seasons that have required temporary creations of special ‘triage’ areas on whatever open space was available on the larger footprint.
“The scale and complexity of marine mammal emergencies in Southern California have changed dramatically over the last decade,” Warner said in a written statement. “This new hospital will ensure Los Angeles County has the infrastructure needed to respond to large-scale wildlife emergencies, care for more animals and advance research that helps protect ocean health. It’s a transformational investment in both marine life and the communities that share our coastline.”
The new center will provide advanced clinical capabilities to rescue, treat, and rehabilitate more marine mammals, improve patient outcomes, and respond rapidly and effectively to mass stranding events and other large-scale marine wildlife emergencies, supporters said. It also will provide an opportunity to apply for a permit to rehabilitate endangered and threatened species that cannot be supported at the current facility; expand MMCC’s laboratory and necropsy capacity; and enhance regional collaboration on emerging marine mammal health threats.
“My push is the sooner the better,” Light said when asked about the construction timeline. “I’m very excited the way this all came together so quickly. Initially it was thought it would take 18 months to raise $15 million but we’ve more than doubled that in four months. Now we will move into formal lease negotiations. It’s a win for Redondo Beach and the center and the schools — and for the sea lions.
MMCC’s work is authorized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Since 1992, MMCC has rescued and rehabilitated more than 11,000 marine mammals and educated hundreds of thousands of school-aged children and community members from its current location on land leased from the Los Angeles Unified School District in San Pedro.
The need for California’s marine life rehabilitation will only grow, Warner said.
“There’s no natural habitat left for these animals,” Warner said of the growing wildlife need this week in a telephone interview, noting the California coastline presents unique challenges for stranded sea animals. “It’s our job, and we’re uniquely qualified as a public-private partnership, to make this kind of work possible.”
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