NPS photo

An NPS volunteer holds a young, rescued green sea turtle.

Stranded sea turtles are those found washed ashore, either alive or dead. The Sea Turtle Stranding Network (STSSN) was established in 1980 and continues to consistently document all sea turtles found stranded on U.S. beaches, transport live stranded turtles to rehabilitation facilities, and salvage dead turtles for necropsy and study. All sea turtles found stranded in Texas and elsewhere in the U.S. are documented on standardized STSSN forms. Maintenance of the STSSN is listed as a priority item in the recovery plans for all five sea turtle species occurring in the Gulf of Mexico. All five, including the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), hawksbill (Eretmocheyls imbricata), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), are threatened or endangered and are located stranded on Texas beaches.

Stranded sea turtles are investigated to provide information on the life history of these species, stranding trends, and mortality factors. A variety of natural and human-related factors cause sea turtles to strand. Effective conservation of these species requires identification of stranding sources and attempts to reduce the impacts of human-related factors. Incidental capture within shrimp trawls was a significant source of sea turtle mortality on the Texas coast (Caillouet et al., 1991, 1996) and strandings must be monitored to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of turtle excluder devices (TEDs).

Ingestion of, and entanglement in, marine debris is another human-related source of sea turtle strandings. Marine debris ingestion by sea turtles must be investigated to determine the role of this factor in sea turtle mortality and evaluate the effectiveness of MARPOL Annex V regulations prohibiting the disposal of plastics and other trash in the Gulf of Mexico. Food habits of hatchlings, juveniles, and adults are investigated to gain insight into marine debris ingestion, habitat utilization, and resource partitioning.

The NPS necropsies turtles found stranded in south Texas , collects life history information (size, sex ratios, etc.) and data important to the management of the five sea turtle species that occur in the Gulf of Mexico, and provides specimens from stranded turtles to various permitted researchers for collaborative studies (breeding colonies of origin, age and growth, heavy metal contamination, etc.).

The Padre Island National Seashore Chief of the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery serves as Texas coordinator of the STSSN. In this capacity, she maintains records of sea turtles found stranded in Texas and provides leadership to STSSN participants in Texas.