Unique Experiences

Item Description

Lunch or Dinner with Robert Schoelkopf, founder of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, New Jersey

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center was founded by and is directed by Bob Schoelkopf. Trained as a medical corpsman in the navy, he  worked with special operations Marines in Vietnam. Injured during the war, he was taken to Philadelphia Naval Hospital around the corner from an aquarium. After healing, he worked with the aquarium and, when a new owner transferred the operation to Steel Pier, he too, moved to Atlantic City.

In 1978, Bob formed MMSC in 1978 with a handful of volunteers and a C.E.T.A. grant.  Originally based in Gardner’s Basin in the inlet section of Atlantic City, the Center is now located on the barrier island of Brigantine, which borders coastal New Jersey’s largest wildlife refuge. Robert and his wife, Sheila Dean, along with a small paid staff and volunteerrs with a wide variety of talents and professional backgrounds, rescue, and rehabilitate stranded marine animals. Then they release them into the wild.

With a permit and authorization from the state and federal governments, the Center has responded to over 3,900 strandings of whales, dolphins, seals, sea turtles, and the occasional shark that have washed ashore over the years.

www.mmsc.org

Item Special Note

Being auctioned is dinner or lunch with one the world’s foremost shark experts or celebrities. It is a unique opportunity to “talk shark” face-to-face, one-on-one, with a real authority on sharks. 

How it works:

1. Bid on a celebrity, shark scientist or conservationist that lives or works in your area, unless you are willing to drive or fly to meet them in their area.

2. The winning bidder pays for the lunch or dinner and may bring as many guests as he or she wishes.

3. We will introduce the winning bidder to the celebrity, scientist or conservationist. The two of you then set a mutually agreeable  date, time and place to meet within one year of the close of the auction.

All winning bids are charitable contributions deductible from US Federal 2013 income taxes.  Funds raised by the auction will be used to support shark research and conservation programs.