GOM Stranding Protocols 2021

    Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network Updated February 2020

The protocols detailed below outline the current procedures for the operation of the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network (STSSN) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The STSSN is a voluntary network, coordinated by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

STSSN Effort in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

State stranding coordinators oversee and actively coordinate a network of permitted individuals and organizations (including rehabilitation facilities) that participate as members of the STSSN. Participation by all individuals and non-governmental organizations is voluntary, and all participants must hold proper federal and/or state permits for stranding response and any research studies as well as comply with all stranding response, documentation, and reporting procedures. State stranding coordinators for the northern Gulf of Mexico, as of January 2020 are:

Alabama – Lyndsey Howell, NOAA/NMFS 

Mississippi – Melissa Cook, NOAA/NMFS

Louisiana – Lyndsey Howell, NOAA/NMFS

Texas – Donna Shaver, National Park Service

 Florida – Allen Foley, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 

STSSN Response Procedure in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Strandings are defined as turtles that wash ashore dead or alive or are found floating dead or alive (generally in an injured or weakened condition).

Response, Documentation, and Reporting:

• The state coordinator facilitates a response to all reports of stranded sea turtles in their state unless logistically unfeasible or prohibited by weather or other safety considerations.

• Stranding responders document all strandings using the standard STSSN procedures, including the STSSN reporting form and digital photographs.

• Stranding responders report all basic stranding information (date, species, lat/long, condition, injuries) to the state coordinator within 48 hours of the stranding event and send completed STSSN forms to the state coordinator within 7 days of the stranding event.

• The state coordinator is responsible for establishing a reporting protocol, including the preferred methods of contact, for their state responders.

• The state coordinator or their designee(s) enter all basic stranding data and photos into the NOAA National STSSN Database weekly (i.e., all data must be entered within 7 days of the stranding event).

• The state coordinator submits completed STSSN original forms to the NOAA National STSSN Coordinator.

Live Stranded Sea Turtles:

• All live stranded turtles are to be responded to immediately, unless prohibited by weather or other safety considerations, and transferred to a USFWS approved voluntary rehabilitation facility in consultation with the state coordinator.

Carcass Salvage and Sampling Considerations:

Sample collection from stranded turtles: Any collection of samples from stranded turtles requires a valid federal or state permit specific to a given project or study.

• Salvage of carcasses for necropsy: Guidelines are provided at the end of this document (beginning on page 3) to illustrate which carcasses should be collected for necropsy. Carcasses that are not salvaged due to decomposition or logistical constraints may be examined in the field.

  o Unless otherwise arranged with the state coordinator, all decomposed carcasses salvaged according to the guidelines below (code 2 and early code 3) are frozen for later necropsy. If in doubt about a code 3 carcass, there is no harm in salvaging a carcass to be conservative, but code 4 and 5 remains should not be salvaged under this protocol.

o Carcasses that are not collected for later necropsy should be marked and pulled up on the beach out of reach of the tide, marked and buried on the beach, or otherwise disposed of properly.

In the event of an oil spill or other anthropogenic disaster, additional protocols may be distributed and required for stranding response; collection and disposition of carcasses/samples; and the use of chain of custody.

Guidelines for salvage of carcasses for necropsy Definitions of Decomposition Stages:

Check the code that best describes the stranded turtle. If the stranding seems intermediate between two codes, pick the one that fits best. Carcasses that are decomposition code 1, code 2, and early code 3 should be salvaged for necropsy as described above. If in doubt, go ahead and collect the carcass. Animals that are not salvaged may still be examined in the field to the degree possible (e.g., to document injuries, nutritional condition, gut contents, etc.).

Alive (0): Eye blink response; breathing (breaths may be several minutes apart); may or may not be active / moving around.

Mildly Decomposed/Fresh Dead (1): Should initially question whether it is alive; may have rigor mortis; eyes should be clear; no smell of decomposition; no evidence of bloating. If the turtle smells of decomposition or is bloated, it is not fresh dead.

Moderately decomposed (2): Mild to moderate smell of decomposition; mild to moderate bloat; bulging eyes, if present; soft tissue may feel spongy; scutes and skin may be beginning to slough.

Severely decomposed (3): Foul smell; severe bloat or mass of rotting flesh if already degassed; scutes and skin sloughing, or missing; bony structures may be disarticulating.

Dried Carcass (4): Completely desiccated, only dry skin and bones; little to no smell. Skeleton, bones only (5): Bones only with no soft tissue remaining.

Guidelines for salvaging carcasses for necropsy

Assign the code that best describes the stranded turtle. Carcasses in the early/middle phases of “severe decomposition” should be salvaged for necropsy. If in doubt, collect the carcass. Animals not salvaged may be examined in the field to document injuries, sex, gut contents, etc.

Figure 1. Body area categories used when describing the location of external anomalies. (A)Carapace- includes the ventral portion of the marginals. (B)Plastron. (C)Neck- includes the region between the carapace and the skull (dorsally) and the plastron and the skull (ventrally). (D)Head- includes all external surfaces over the skull. (E)Front Flippers- includes the shoulders and the axilla (armpits). (F)Rear Flippers- includes the prefemoral (inguinal) areas. Not shown here are the Mouth (the oral cavity; this is an internal surface but should be included in an external examination) and the Tail.

Figure 2. Examples of definitive vessel strike injuries. These examples show multiple parallel chop wounds caused by boat propellers. The depth and angle of penetration into the body and characteristics of the propeller influence whether the wounds are straight (A), curved (B), or sigmoidal (C). (D) Propeller wounds can be detected even if the carcass is coming apart due to fractures or decomposition. However, it is important to distinguish chop wounds (green arrowheads) from postmortem separation of shell bones (disarticulation) resulting from decomposition (blue arrowheads).

Figure 3. Examples of definitive vessel strike injuries. These examples show typical injuries caused by boat propellers and skegs or rudders. Boat propellers cause multiple parallel chop wounds (green arrowheads). Rudders or skegs produce linear sharp and blunt injuries (white arrowhead) that intersect or border those caused by the propeller. Skeg or rudder injuries may be offset from, as shown in (A–D), or centered on the propeller wounds (B).

Figure 4. Examples of definitive vessel strike injuries. These are examples of wounds caused by large propellers. Large propellers can have greater distance between the strikes, as shown in (A), or may completely transect turtles as shown in (B–D). A key feature of single large propeller strikes shown here is the straight wound path (green line).

Figure 5. Examples of definitive vessel strike injuries. Single or oblique chop wounds can occur on the head without necessarily striking the body. Note how cleanly the bone is cleaved away in these injuries, like the shell wounds shown in earlier examples.

Figure 6. Examples of blunt force injuries. Blunt force injuries are defined in the STSSN database as fractures (often depressed) and associated tearing of the skin involving the large or discrete areas of the head or shell. These are mostly commonly attributable to being struck by blunt parts of vessels. Note that all these examples lack the discrete chop wounds caused by rotating propellers, skegs, or rudders.

Figure 7. Examples of blunt force injuries. (A) Fractures of the shell may radiate out from the area of impact and can resemble curved chop wounds. However, note the absence of a clearly identifiable wound path as shown in examples of definitive vessel strike injuries. (B-D) Blunt trauma frequently results in fractures of the plastron bones.

Figure 8. Examples of blunt force injuries. These can occur on the head as well as the body. As in the previous examples, there are multiple fractures that tend to be depressed by the blow. The wounds generally appear messier or less defined than those shown for definitive vessel strike injuries.

Figure 9. Examples of shark bite wounds on the body. (A) Shark teeth are very sharp and cleanly cut into the skin and soft tissue, causing multiple adjacent, often curved or semi-circular wounds. (B) Tissue may be removed in a typical semi-circular pattern. (C) The sharp teeth will shred the scutes of the shell and created grooves in the underlying bone. This is a typical example of a bite wound along the margin of the carapace. The corresponding other half of the bite wound may be on the lower shell (plastron) or the other side of carapace. (D) With older wounds, the same pattern may be recognizable despite healing, as in this example.