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BY SARA BLUMENTHAL, sblumenthal@keyreporter.com
The Marine Mammal Conservancy was created in 1995 with a mission - to rescue, rehab and release stranded and sick dolphins. Now the organization finds itself in the middle of a legal battle with one of its founders.
Rick Trout is suing the non-profit foundation, saying it illegally removed him from the board in February 2005. Trout, a well-known dolphin advocate, has been working with marine animals since 1978.
“I speak for animals that can’t speak for themselves,” said Trout. “I am not a zoo person. I am anti-captivity. I don’t like it for me, and I don’t like it for them.” In 1995, he and other dolphin advocates formed the MMC to improve efforts to rescue dolphins that become injured or stranded on the shores of the Keys.
“The concept of rescue and release is not a flawed concept,” said Trout. “Sometimes, the people involved are.”
After 10 years, the board voted Trout off.
Trout says it was because of his outspokenness, which sometimes caused him to butt heads with the federal government, the authority over marine mammal issues. “I am not afraid to rock the boat. If that means educating the federal government, so be it,” said Trout. “MMC said they could do it better without me.”
Robert Lingenseler, president of the MMC, says it was not Trout’s advocacy that caused the board to remove him, but a combination of issues including “misinformation” spread by Trout. “Rick distorts the truth,” said Lingenseler. “He interfered with donors. He made comments to the press that were not the views of MMC.”
However, Trout says Lingenseler and the board did not have a legal right to vote him out.
He says that in the organization’s bylaws, “founders are granted board status ad infinitum.” Lingenseler says that status is given only after written notice by the founder and board approval.
“Rick never filed that written notice and the board never accepted that notice,” said Lingenseler.
Trout says that besides removing him illegally, MMC has failed to live up to its responsibility of rescue and release since he has been gone.
He says that he has seen the success rate of the organization drop, while Lingenseler says it has remained the same. “Last year we stayed with our 50 percent rate,” said Lingenseler. “Compared to the nationwide 14 percent rate, ours is very good considering we are made up totally of volunteers.”
Trout also said he thinks some board members may not have the dolphin’s best interest in heart. He says many members are connected with dolphin facilities such as Dolphin Cove, which allows people to pay to swim with the dolphins. “There is some real suspicion there,” said Trout.
Lingenseler says Trout’s concern is baseless. “They have been for years. We have worked with places like that since the beginning,” said Lingenseler. Lingenseler says MMC even merged with Dolphin Cove’s nonprofit organization in 2003.
Lingenseler says Trout was all for that collaboration. “He voted to approve that and bring them on board,” said Lingenseler. Lingenseler says Trout’s lawsuit and allegations are nothing more than a publicity stunt.
“Mr. Trout works for himself. He is interested in notoriety,” said Lingenseler. MMC has also filed suit against Trout and Russ Rector, another dolphin rescuer, saying they are spreading false and disparaging information about the organization.
“He is asking the court to take away our first amendment right, and he can’t even prove anything we are saying isn’t true,” said Rector. Rector says he reported two complaints against MMC. One cited mishandling of a dolphin and another said that during a rescue the center took more dolphins to their facility than they could handle.
“I am supported by that. Out of the 26 dolphins they brought there, only 10 survived,” said Rector. Rector says the National Marine Fisheries Service agreed with him, issuing letters of reprimand to the MMC. Both cases are now in front of a judge. Both sides say all that they care about is the mission to save the dolphins.
“My main goal is having the MMC live up to its mission to improve the rescue, rehab and release of marine mammals,” said Trout. “I am devoted to these creatures and it seems politics is tainting genuine efforts to save them.”
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