Alaska boasts over 33,900 miles of coastline—more than the rest of the United States combined. A significant portion of this shoreline lies in remote, roadless areas of the Arctic and sub-Arctic. If a major shipping vessel or oil drilling platform experiences a catastrophic spill along these isolated coastlines, transporting oiled or injured marine mammals to the permanent ASLC facility in Seward could take days, resulting in fatal toxic exposure.
Recognizing this geographic and logistical reality, the engineering and veterinary teams at the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) designed and fabricated a pioneering solution: Mobile Treatment and Rehabilitation Enclosures (MTREs).
The Design: 15-Foot Modular Enclosures
An MTRE is not just a pool; it is a fully integrated, self-contained, portable wildlife stabilization unit.
Each MTRE is centered around a 15-foot modular, heavy-duty pool designed for extreme subarctic weather conditions. The enclosures are engineered with:
- Modular Framework: A lightweight, high-strength aluminum exoskeleton that can be assembled by a team of three in less than 45 minutes without heavy machinery.
- Tough Liners: Double-walled, puncture-resistant PVC linings designed to withstand the thrashing and claws of sea otters or large seals.
- Variable Depth Settings: Adjustable structural floors that allow veterinarians to transition the enclosure from dry haul-out platforms (for initial toxic stabilization) to shallow pool triages, and finally to deep-water swimming depths for conditioning.
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| Modular Aluminum Exoskeleton Frame |
| +-----------------------------------+ |
| | Double-Walled PVC Liner Pool | |
| | (15-ft Diameter, Adjustable) | |
| | +-----------------------------+ | |
| | | Variable Depth Floor Panel | | |
| | +-----------------------------+ | |
| +-----------------------------------+ |
+-----------------------------------------+Self-Contained Life Support Systems (LSS)
Treating oiled marine mammals requires continuous water filtration. Oil washed from an animal’s coat contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can quickly poison the water and air, posing severe health risks to both the patient and veterinary handlers.
Each MTRE is paired with a portable, diesel-powered Life Support System (LSS) skid containing:
- High-Rate Sand Filters: To extract suspended debris and matted hair.
- Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) Filters: To strip dissolved hydrocarbons, VOCs, and chemical surfactants from the water.
- Seawater Fractionators (Protein Skimmers): To remove organic proteins and surface oils.
- Hydronic Heat Exchangers: To carefully regulate pool temperatures, preventing hypothermia in compromised neonates.
Logistics: Deployable by Air or Sea
The true genius of the MTRE design is its transportability. The entire unit—including the pool structure, LSS skid, emergency veterinary medicine lockers, and generators—is configured to fit precisely inside a standard C-130 Hercules cargo plane, a commercial helicopter cargo sling, or a medium-sized landing craft vessel.
In the event of a catastrophic maritime emergency, ASLC can deploy multiple MTRE units directly to the remote shoreline within 24 hours. By establishing these localized stabilization hubs on-site, veterinarians can wash, hydrate, and stabilize oiled wildlife immediately, dramatically boosting survival rates before shipping the patients south to Seward for long-term convalescence.
Today, ASLC’s modular MTRE systems serve as a global gold standard in industrial emergency planning, proving that elite veterinary care can be engineered to operate anywhere on Earth.