Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute (CIMWI)

CIMWI Board of Directors

Samuel Dover, D.V.M.

Dr. Samuel Dover has been practicing marine mammal medicine for over nineteen years.  His career began in 1987 at Sea World of California in San Diego while he was a veterinary student and then as a staff veterinarian shortly after graduation from University of Missouri - Columbia.  Dr. Dover has always had a passion for working with marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation.  While at Sea World, he gained a variety of first hand experiences in this area which included working with stranded dolphins, seals and sea lions.  He was also involved in treating sea otters from Alaska that were oiled during the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

In 1995 Dr. Dover transferred to Sea World of Florida and became involved with large whale rescues including several mass strandings of Pilot whales.  He also spent many hours in the field assisting the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection with manatee rescue and research.  During these experiences Dr. Dover pioneered minimally invasive surgical techniques for dolphins, seals, sea lions, manatees, sea turtles, sharks and walrus. 

Dr. Dover accepted a position at the Santa Barbara Zoo in 1999 as Staff Veterinarian and Director of Conservation and Research.  He worked cooperatively with the National Park Service and made many trips to the Channel Islands assisting with the endangered Channel Island Foxes.  Since arriving in Santa Barbara, Dr. Dover has also been involved with rescuing sea otters, extricating a California Sea Lion from a storm sewer in Port Hueneme and assisting the U.S. Navy on San Nicolas Island with a mysterious elephant seal die-off. 

In 1999 Dr. Dover started a veterinary consulting practice specializing in marine mammals.  He uses his veterinary skills, years of experience and surgical specialty in evaluating and treating animals as well as in the development of marine mammal parks.  He currently has contracts in the U.S. and abroad.    

Dr. Dover has taught and lectured extensively.  He has also published many articles, papers and book chapters in the field of marine mammal medicine and surgery.  Dr. Dover is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Wildlife Disease Association, the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine, the Marine Mammal Society and the American Association for Zoological Veterinarians.

In 2005 Dr. Dover founded Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute and is committed to its mission of rescuing and rehabilitating marine and terrestrial wildlife and engaging in related educational, research and cooperative efforts.