72556 Data Set Published / External 72548 West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network Project In Work 2019-09-04 The Marine Mammal Protection Act formalized a program to provide response to reports of strandings of marine mammals and unusual mortality events. This was done by creating a network of parties from different locations that would be responsible for responding to stranding events within their zone. Most stranding zones in California are defined by county boundaries. Some zones include only one or two counties, but California's largest zone covers 8 coastal counties and includes another 10 where the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta reach inland. Los Angeles county has its coastline divided into two stranding zones, and one of those two zones also has multiple (2) organizations responsible for strandings within it.Stranding reporting areas of the coast of Oregon and Washington and Puget Sound are based upon the authorizations for each facility in their Stranding Agreement (SA) - each SA lists a primary response area granted to the organization, and these lines correspond to that. These zones are often divided more by geographical considerations than by political boundaries, such as island groups or cross-water zones. One zone is the responsibility of two different organizations because each has a different specialty. The Cascade Research Collective is responsible for Cetacean strandings in that area and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations is responsible for pinniped strandings in the same area.A stranding is:• a dead marine mammal on the beach or in the water;• a marine mammal that is alive on the shore and unable to return to the water under its own power;• a marine mammal that is alive on the shore and, although able to return to the water, is in need of apparent medical attention;• a marine mammal in the water and cannot return to its natural habitat under its own power or without assistance.In most stranding cases, the cause of the stranding is unknown, but some identified causes have included disease, parasite infestation, harmful algal blooms, injuries from ship strikes or fishery entanglements, pollution exposure, trauma, and starvation. While most stranded animals are found dead, some strand alive. In a limited number of cases it's possible to transport them to regional rehabilitation centers for care. In rare cases, successfully rehabilitated animals are returned to the wild. With the passage of the Endangered Species Act, in 1973 and the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004, protection of sea turtle species, most of which are endangered or threatened, has resulted in them being added to the list of species which stranding organizations are responsible for. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network was established in the early 1980s under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The Act also formalized the marine mammal health and stranding response program to improve the response of stranding and unusual mortality events. It created a network of parties from different locations that would be responsible for responding to stranding events in their area. Along the Pacific Coast, members of the network respond to marine mammal stranding events along the Washington, Oregon, and California coasts and are part of a nationwide network. This layer serves as a reference for identifying organizations to which one can report strandings along the Pacific coast. It identifies the respective zones and provides the names and contact numbers for the organizations responsible for responding to strandings within those zones. Sea turtle strandings are also dealt with by the stranding organizations. In California, different organizations respond to live strandings than respond to dead strandings, so this division of labor is identified by different fields for organization name and phone number within the attribute table. In Washington State and Oregon the same stranding organizations respond to both live and dead strandings, so the entries in both sets of fields are the same. Theme ISO 19115 Topic Category biota Theme ISO 19115 Topic Category oceans Spatial California Spatial Oregon Spatial Pacific Coast Spatial Puget Sound Spatial Washington Data Set As Needed Map (digital) NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Realty and Refuge Information 72557 Published / External Data Table Yes Layer identifies marine mammal and sea turtle stranding zones and the organizations and phone numbers to be contacted in case of a stranding incident; Source: NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, West Coast Region, Long Beach, CA 1 OBJECTID n/a No No Active Internal feature number.; Source: Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. 2 Shape n/a No No Active Feature geometry.; Source: ESRI Coordinates defining the features. 3 Shape_Length n/a No No Active Length of feature in internal units.; Source: Esri Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. 4 Feature_ID n/a No No Active Internal feature number.; Source: Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. 5 LiveStranding n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization and Phone Number; Source: see credits 6 LiveOrg n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization ; Source: see credits 7 LivePhone n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization Phone Number; Source: see credits 8 DeadOrg n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization; Source: see credits 9 DeadPhone n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization Phone Number; Source: see credits 10 MMType_Live n/a No No Active species specific limitations; Source: see credits 11 MMType_Dead n/a No No Active species specific limitations; Source: see credits 12 LiveStranding2 n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization; Source: see credits 13 LivePhone2 n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization Phone Number; Source: see credits 14 LiveStranding3 n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization; Source: see credits 15 LivePhone3 n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization Phone Number; Source: see credits 16 MMType_Live2 n/a No No Active species specific limitations; Source: see credits 17 MMType_Dead2 n/a No No Active species specific limitations; Source: see credits 18 DeadStranding n/a No No Active Stranding Network Partner Organization; Source: see credits Data Steward 2023-12-20 Person Markle, Robert robert.markle@noaa.gov 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd Portland OR 97232 503-230-5419 Distributor 2023-12-20 Organization West Coast Regional Office WCRO 501 West Ocean Blvd Long Beach CA 90802-4213 https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/ Metadata Contact 2023-12-20 Person Markle, Robert robert.markle@noaa.gov 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd Portland OR 97232 503-230-5419 Point of Contact 2025 Person Markle, Robert robert.markle@noaa.gov 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd Portland OR 97232 503-230-5419 Publication Date Data includes coastlines of Puget Sound and the states of Washington, Oregon, and California and extends from the U.S. - Canada border to the U.S. - Mexico Border -125.681944 -117.095 49 32.534444 Continuing 2024 -125.681939 -117.095055 49.002472 32.534222 Geographic 2D EPSG:4326 WGS 84 World Geodetic System 1984 WGS 84 6378137 298.257223563 1 Geodetic Lattitude Lat degree north 2 Geodetic Longitude Lon degree east Unclassified These data are not to be used for navigational purposes. https://services2.arcgis.com/C8EMgrsFcRFL6LrL/arcgis/rest/services/Live_Marine_Mammal_Stranding_Network_Live/FeatureServer 2023-12-20 Organization West Coast Regional Office Data access URL ESRI REST Service Esri ArcGIS 13.2.0.49743 no missing features These data are believed to be logically consistent although no tests were performed. Each area of responsibility for stranding network partners was reviewed by NOAA West Coast Fisheries staff1Specification title2024-02-29T00:00:00 West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network Contacts Organization NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region Originator 1 Compared and updated (where needed) partner organizations with updated documents 2024-02-29T00:00:00 Organization West Coast Regional Office WCRO 501 West Ocean Blvd Long Beach CA 90802-4213 https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 72557 Entity gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:72556 Bryan Thom 2024-05-02T17:59:37 Lincoln Rehm 2025-09-25T15:55:44 2024-05-03 West Coast Regional Office WCRO 501 West Ocean Blvd Long Beach CA 90802-4213 https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 1001 Public No No 2024-05-02 1 Year 2025-05-02