Marine Life Studies

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270318674
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Moss Landing, CA, USA
Phone
8319013833
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Marine Science and Oceanography

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$277,116
Expenses
$257,885
Assets
$628,460
Liabilities
$35,661

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PEGGY STAP (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & FOUNDER)

People named in this filing

  • PEGGY STAP (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & FOUNDER)
  • JENNIFER OSBORN (SECRETARY)
  • MARY WHITNEY (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Marine research, education and whale rescue

What it reported doing in 2025

Whale entanglement team- respond to and rescue whales entangled in marine debris and fishing gear, continual wale disentanglement traning - in house and noaa training, proactive measures to remove marine debris and derelict fishing rear, and share data collected from disentanglement responses to noaa disentanglement network, disseminate data collected frmom entanglement responses to other scientists and research organizations to the general public through ocean educational programs, and educational outreach at public venues such as whalefest monterey, presentations to organizations/clubs, etc.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.9%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.44; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.6% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $217K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.