LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach rescues injured and suffering marine mammals, rehabilitates them, and then releases them back into the wild.

It’s part of a comprehensive effort to save and protect marine life through education, research and environmental conversation.

The nonprofit has been operating in Laguna Beach for 50 years, and its efforts to rescue and save marine mammals are made possible by a small staff and a large group of loyal volunteers. One of the volunteers, Kristina Ruiz-Mesa, has shown up to help care for the animals at PMMC every week for the past nine years.

When she’s not thawing fish or cleaning stalls, Ruiz-Mesa has a full schedule as a professor teaching Communication Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. Through volunteering to help save the animals she loves, she has found a greater sense of purpose and belief.

"I feel hope," she said. "I think there are 200 people who give up their time and volunteer at this organization. And I think that says a lot about our humanity, and it says a lot about our ability to help one another and help our world."

Ruiz-Mesa knows firsthand that after the months of care and love to bring these animals back to health, watching them be released back into the wild is the most rewarding part of it all.

“This is a hope for a better future, a hope for a healthier environment, and that’s why it’s my happy place,” she said.

From volunteering to education and research, PMMC is fighting to preserve and protect the marine life that makes Southern California so unique.

For more information on visiting, volunteering and contributing to PMMC, visit here.