Stranding Report
for the Gulf CoastStranding Report
for the Gulf CoastDuring the 1997 shrimping season, this small Kemp's Ridley sea turtle washed ashore, in the Galveston, Texas area. It had been weighted down with chain tied to a flipper, so it could not surface to breathe.
When a sea turtle is found on a beach either sick, injured or dead, it is listed by the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network as a stranded animal. A vast majority of stranded sea turtles are dead when they are located. Stranding reports are completed in each state by staff of state or federal agencies. The coordinator of the Texas network is at the Padre Island National Seashore where all Texas stranding reports are sent before totals are submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
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Sea Turtle Mortality Associated With Human Activities
From Decline of the Sea Turtles: Causes and Prevention by the National Research Council Committee on Sea Turtle Conservation, 1990 |
A stranding report is a detailed document which lists the name, address and telephone number of the person completing the form, the date the sea turtle was found, what species it is and its measurements. A turtle might have a metal tag on its flipper or although it is gone, the flipper might show evidence that it been attached. A living tag would appear as a small white spot on the top shell (carapace) where a piece of the lower shell (plastron) had been surgically glued. The exact geographic location is also noted as well as the general condition of the turtle. The final disposition is listed whether the turtle was buried, taken for a necropsy (examination of a dead sea turtle similar to an autopsy of a human being) or left on the beach. Other vital remarks are included such as the presence of tar or oil, gear or debris, wounds or mutilations, propeller damage, papillomas (tumors) and any information that might have lead to the cause of death.
