Founding & Opening

• July 13, 2016: The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary, LLC was founded.
• September 1, 2016: Seaside officially moves into it's current location located at 18328 Gulf Blvd. in Indian Shores. 
• ​December 15, 2016: The Seaside Seabird receives it's 501(c)(3) non profit status from the Internal Revenue Service.
• ​March 30, 2017: The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary holds it's official grand opening celebration. The event is attended by several local city officials, members of the media, and the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce.

• On average, The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary's Injured Bird Rescue Hotline receives 10,800 calls every year.
• On average, Sanctuary Rescue Volunteers conduct 3,600 rescues each year.

• On average, 3,000-3,500 sick and injured birds are admitted into the Sanctuary's hospital each year for treatment and rehabilitation.
• On average, 46% of all sick & injured birds admitted into Seaside's hospital are successfully treated and rehabilitated. 

On average, the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary releases 1,347 rehabilitated wild birds back into the wild each year.

The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary goes through the following amounts of food per week:

• 2,500 lbs. of fish (per week): $1,200
• 140 lbs. of ground beef (per week): $300
• 10,000 live mealworms (per week): $100
• 6 lbs. of dried mealworms (per week): $25
• 200 rats (per week): $50
• 100 mice (per week): $25
• 20 lbs. of apples (per week): $40
• 10 lbs. of grapes (per week): $20
• 50 lbs. of cracked corn (per month): $50
• 50 lbs. of waterfowl feed (per month): $50
• 50 lbs. of sandhill crane chow (per month): $50
• 50 lbs. of dried dog food (per month): $50
• 25 lbs. of dove seed (per month): $25

This does not include all the other types of bird seed, fruits, berries, vegetables, peanuts, and shrimp that the Sanctuary goes through on a weekly basis.

In order to keep up with all the towels that Seaside's hospital goes through on a daily basis, the Sanctuary has two washing machines and two clothes dryers that run continuously for 9-hours straight, 7-days a week.

Seaside goes through the following amounts of cleaning supplies on a weekly basis:

• 10 gallons of bleach (per week)
• 3 gallons of laundry detergent (per week)
• 1 gallon of germicidal disinfectant (per week)

With a 1.5 acre facility that includes a full service avian hospital and outdoor rehabilitation facility the includes countless pools, The utility expenses to care for the thousands of birds Seaside treats every year is high. Listed below is what Seaside spends on monthly utilities...  

• $1,630 = electricity (monthly)
• $1,500 = water & sewer (bi-monthly)
• $43.30 = waste removal (monthly)

Out of all donations that come into the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary... 

• 65% goes towards the medical treatment, rehabilitation, food costs and daily care of the sick, injured, and disabled birds that Seaside cares for.
• 35% goes towards facility maintenance/repairs, utilities, office expenses, payroll, and other operating costs.

Being a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary relies on volunteers and non-paid interns to operate and maintain its 1.5 acre facility. It is dedicated and passionate volunteers which allows Seaside to continue its important mission of rescuing and rehabilitating wild birds.

Volunteers & Interns volunteer an average of 3,196 hours each year at the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary. This does not include all the hours spent at offsite events or by our bird rescuers.  

Did you know that the giant pelican statue that overlooks Gulf Blvd. in front of the Sanctuary's main entrance actually has a name? His name is Lucky. Look closely and you will see he has a hook in his mouth, and line wrapped around his injured left wing.