50407
2007 Texas Turtle Strandings File
Entity
Published / External
26881
Summary of sea turtle strandings documented by NOAA Galveston 1989-Present
Data Set
Completed
The NOAA Galveston Laboratory has been raising sea turtles continously in captivity since 1977. As the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network [STSSN] local represenatative for the upper Texas Gulf coast [coast is divided into 4 areas - upper, middle, Padre Island National Seashore and lower], we respond to sea turtle strandings, dead or alive. We document dead sea turtles, conduct a necropsy in an attempt to determine cause of death, collect biological samples if required, and dispose of the carcass. Live turtles are returned to the NOAA Galveston Laboratory where they are cared for in the sea turtle hospital. The NOAA Galveston Laboratory is not mandated to run a sea turtle hospital, but we do, because we have the capability to do so and there are no other local resources with the expertise to treat and house sick and injured sea turtles. Sea turtles receive medical attention from our attending veterinarians and The Houston Zoo, Inc., provides the bulk of those medical services free of charge. Once sea turtles are treated, recovered/rehabilitated and medically cleared, they are released either offshore or into Galveston Bay depending on the species, size and age of the turtle. We try to release sea turtles back into the wild where they would be normally found at that size and maturity. The Gulf of Mexico in Galveston seasonally supports healthy sea turtles from April to October. By November of each year, the coastal waters become too cold to support healthy sea turtles. Sea turtles that strand after October or that are still receiving treatment in October, are usually held over the winter and released the following spring. Occassionally, turtles that require holding over the winter are sent to The Houston Zoo, Inc., Moody Gardens, or Texas A&M University at Galveston for over-wintering.
Record in real time sea turtle strandings on the upper Texas coast in 2007
Theme
Caretta caretta
Theme
Chelonia mydas
Theme
Dermochelys coriacea
Theme
Eretmochelys imbricata
Theme
Kemp's ridley
Theme
Lepidochelys kempii
Theme
green turtle
Theme
hawksbill
Theme
leatherback
Theme
loggerhead
Theme
sea turtle
Theme
sea turtle stranding and salvage network
Theme
stranding
Theme
stssn
Temporal
2007
Spatial
Gulf of Mexico
Spatial
Texas
Spreadsheet
Yes
The database contains records pertaining to all sea turtles recovered by the NOAA Galveston Laboratory as the local representative of the Southeast Fisheries Science Centers Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network STSSN. The data includes morphometrics at the time of stranding, species and condition of the sea turtle at the time of stranding and documentation of tags present. It also contains information on the geographic location of the stranding.
10
DATE
Date
10
Yes
No
Active
Date when sea turtle was reported stranded
MM/DD/YYYY
20
EVENT
CHARACTER
18
Yes
No
Active
Means by which sea turtle came ashore
30
STRANDING_CODE
CHARACTER
12
Yes
Yes
Active
Unique code formed by the first letter of the responders first name, first letter of the responders middle name, first letter of the responders last name followed by the year, month, day and then the consecutive number of turtles recovered by that responder on that given day
fist letter of the responders first name, first letter of the responders middle name, first letter of the responders last name followed by the year, month, day and then the consecutive number of turtles recovered by that responder on that given day
40
SPECIES
CHARACTER
2
Yes
No
Active
Two character species code of stranded sea turtle.
cc
CC=Loggerhead
CM=Green
DC=Leatherback
EI = Hawksbill
LK = Kemp’s Ridley
LO = Olive Ridley
UN = Unidentified
For purposes of validation/species identification pay no attention to case when looking for allowed values and their meaning.
50
STRANDING_LOCATION
CHARACTER
100
Yes
No
Active
A description of the physical geographic location where the turtle was found
60
COUNTY
CHARACTER
20
Yes
No
Active
County or parrish in Texas in which sea turtle was recovered
N/A
Not Applicable
70
LATITUDE_DEGREES_MINUTES
CHARACTER
16
Yes
No
Active
Geographic position in which the sea turtle was recovered, latitude in degrees and minutes. Hemisphere value of N is included rather than an absolute value provided
Degrees
29° 23.00' N
##° ##.##' N
Degrees and minutes values should be a valid degrees and minutes value for latitude
80
LONGITUDE_DEGREES_MINUTES
CHARACTER
16
Yes
No
Active
Geographic position in which the sea turtle was recovered, longitude in degrees and minutes. Hemisphere value of W is included rather than an absolute value provided
97° 22.83' W
##° ##.##' W#
Degrees and minutes values should be a valid degrees and minutes value for longitude
110
STRAIGHT_CARAPACE_LENGTH_CM
CHARACTER
10
Yes
No
Active
Usually the measurement of the sea turtles carapace length taken with calipers from the nuchal notch to the tip of the most posterior carapace scutes.
It may also be curved carapace length. In cases where it is curved carapace length , CCL: will be part of the value in this field. A ~ character is also occasionally available as part of the Value
CM
CCL: 60.9 or 45.6
###.#
N/A
Not Available
120
CONDITION
CHARACTER
10
Yes
No
Active
Health status at the time of recovery
Alive
Dead
Alive/Died
Must be one of the allowed values
130
SEA_TURTLE_STRANDING_AND_SALVAGE_NETWORK_CONDITION_CODE
Character
3
Yes
No
Active
A coded value from the Sea Turtle Stranding And Salvage Network ranking the state of decomposition or lack there of on a scale from 0-5.
0 , 0/1/
# or #/#
0 = Alive
1 = Fresh dead
2 = Moderately decomposed
3 = Severely decomposed
4 = Dried carcass
5 = Skeleton, bones only
in addition there were a few cases where the value was difficult to determine so it was entered as #/# where each number is a possible value of above
Must be an allowed value or the concatenation of them
140
ACTION
CHARACTER
70
Yes
No
Active
Response to report of sea turtle stranding
150
COMMENTS
CHARACTER
2000
No
No
Active
A physical description of the external and internal examination of the sea turtle
160
PARTS_COLLECTED
Character
120
No
No
Active
Optional comment about the parts collected
Data Steward
1989
Person
Higgins, Benjamin
ben.higgins@noaa.gov
4700 Avenue U
Galveston
TX
77551
409-766-3670
Contact by email preferred.
Distributor
2017-02
Organization
National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland
NCEI-MD
NOAA/NESDIS E/OC SSMC3, 4th Floor, 1351 East-West Highway
Silver Spring
MD
20910-3282
(301) 713-3277
Metadata Contact
1989
Person
Higgins, Benjamin
ben.higgins@noaa.gov
4700 Avenue U
Galveston
TX
77551
409-766-3670
Contact by email preferred.
Point of Contact
2016
Person
Baumer, Tim J
tim.baumer@noaa.gov
4700 Avenue U
Galveston
TX
77551
409-766-3784
Contact by email preferred.
2017
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0159757/1.1/data/0-data/26881/CSV/STRANDINGS2007/Renamed_Data_Table.csv
2017-02
Organization
National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland
Renamed_Data_Table.csv
Renamed 2007 Texas Turtle Strandings File
csv (comma-separated values)
CSV - Comma Separated Values (Text)
Uncompressed
gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:50407
Lee Weinberger
2017-11-28T01:30:43
SysAdmin InPortAdmin
2023-10-17T16:12:16
2021-04-29
Southeast Fisheries Science Center
SEFSC
75 Virginia Beach Drive
Miami
FL
33149
USA
(305)361-5761
www.sefsc.noaa.gov
8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST
1001
Public
No
2021-04-29
1 Year
2022-04-29