Publications in Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program - Office of Protected Resources

Publications in Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response

Stranding Forms and Reports
Policies and Best Practices
Prescott Grant Reports
Environmental Impact Statement
Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event
Stranding Events
Program Plans
Guidance Manuals on Forensic, Necropsy, and Tissue Collection
Assessment of Current Response Practices
Fact Sheets

Marine Mammal Stranding Forms and Reports

National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank Form [pdf]
(OMB No. 0648-0468)
- Instructions: The Examiner's Guide to the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank Form [pdf]
- National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank Request Form [pdf]
  (OMB No. 0648-0468)
Marine Mammal Stranding Report - Level A [pdf]
(OMB No. 0648-0178, NOAA Form 89-864)
- Definitions for Level A Form [pdf]
Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Disposition Report [pdf]
(OMB No. 0648-0178, NOAA Form 89-878)
- Instructions for Rehabilitation Disposition Report [pdf]

Policies and Best Practices for Marine Mammal Stranding Response, Rehabilitation, and Release

Prescott Grant Reports

Program Report FY 2001-2010: A Decade of Support to Save and Conserve Stranded Marine Mammals [pdf]

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Programmatic EIS on the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Program (February 2009)

Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event (UME) Publications

Wilkinson, Dean. 1996. National Contingency Plan for Response to Unusual Marine Mammal Mortality Events [pdf] [11.9 MB], NOAA Tech Memo, NMFS-OPR-9, 118 p.
Gulland, F.M.D. 2006. Review of the Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event Response Program of the National Marine Fisheries Service [pdf]. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-OPR-33, 37 p.
Gulland, F. 2000. Domoic Acid Toxicity in California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) Stranded Along the Central California Coast, May-October 1998 [pdf] [1.9 MB]. Report to the National Marine Fisheries Service Working Group on Unusual Marine Mammal Mortality Events. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech Memo, NMFS-OPR-17.
Gulland, F.M.D., H. Pérez-Cortés M., J. Urbán R., L. Rojas-Bracho, G. Ylitalo, J. Weir, S.A. Norman, M.M. Muto, D.J. Rugh, C. Kreuder, and T. Rowles. 2005. Eastern North Pacific Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) Unusual Mortality Event, 1999-2000 [pdf] U.S. Dep. Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo., NMFS-AFSC-150, 33 p.
Interim Report on the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Unusual Mortality Event, March-April 2004 [pdf] [1.7 MB]
Gaydos, J. K. 2006. Bottlenose Dolphins and Brevetoxins: A Coordinated Research and Response Plan [pdf]. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-32. 46 pp.
Hohn, A.A., D.S. Rotstein, C.A. Harms, and B.L. Southall. 2006. Report on marine mammal unusual mortality event UMESE0501Sp: Multispecies mass stranding of pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), and dwarf sperm whales (Kogia sima) in North Carolina on 15-16 January 2005 [pdf] [10.9 MB]. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-537, 222 p.

Marine Mammal Stranding Events

Gulland, F.M.D. 2006. Review of the Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event Response Program of the National Marine Fisheries Service. U.S. Dept. of Commerce [pdf] [659 KB] NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-33, 37 p.
Gaydos, J. K. 2006. Bottlenose Dolphins and Brevetoxins: A Coordinated Research and Response Plan [pdf]. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-32. 46 pp.
Hohn, A.A., D.S. Rotstein, C.A. Harms, and B.L. Southall. 2006. Report on marine mammal unusual mortality event UMESE0501Sp: Multispecies mass stranding of pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), and dwarf sperm whales (Kogia sima) in North Carolina on 15-16 January 2005 [pdf] [10.9 MB]. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-537, 222 p.
Southall, B. L., R. Braun, F. M. D. Gulland, A. D. Heard, R. W. Baird, S. M. Wilkin and T. K. Rowles. 2006. Hawaiian melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra) mass stranding event of July 3-4, 2004 [pdf] [4.4 MB]. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-31. 73 p.
Gulland, F.M.D., H. Pérez-Cortés M., J. Urbán R., L. Rojas-Bracho, G. Ylitalo, J. Weir, S.A. Norman, M.M. Muto, D.J. Rugh, C. Kreuder, and T. Rowles. 2005. Eastern North Pacific Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) Unusual Mortality Event, 1999-2000 [pdf] U.S. Dep. Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo., NMFS-AFSC-150, 33 p.
Interim Report on the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Unusual Mortality Event, March-April 2004 [pdf] [1.7 MB]
Norman, S.A., Raverty, S., McLellan, B., Pabst, A., Ketten, D., Fleetwood, M., Gaydos, J.K., Norberg, B., Barre, L., Cox, T., Hanson, B., and Jeffries, S. 2004. Multidisciplinary investigation of stranded harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in Washington State with an assessment of acoustic trauma as a contributory factor (2 May-2 June 2003) [pdf] [4.5 MB] U.S. Dep. Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NWR-34, 120 p.
Gulland, F. 2000. Domoic Acid Toxicity in California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) Stranded Along the Central California Coast, May-October 1998 [pdf] [1.9 MB]. Report to the National Marine Fisheries Service Working Group on Unusual Marine Mammal Mortality Events. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech Memo, NMFS-OPR-17.
Bahamas Beaked Whale Report (2000) [pdf] [1.5 MB]
--Bahamas Beaked Whale Report 1-Page Summary
--Sample Summary: Table of Samples Collected
Mass Stranding of Beaked Whales in the Galapagos Islands, April 2000 [pdf]
Read, Andrew J., and Kimberly T. Murray. 2000. Gross Evidence of Human-Induced Mortality in Small Cetaceans [pdf] [1.7 MB] U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-OPR-15, 21 p.

NMFS Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program Plans

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP)
Wilkinson, Dean. 1996. National Contingency Plan for Response to Unusual Marine Mammal Mortality Events [pdf] [11.9 MB], NOAA Tech Memo, NMFS-OPR-9, 118 p.
Becker, Paul R., Dean Wilkinson, and Ted I. Lillestolen. 1994. Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program Development Plan [pdf] [1.5 MB], NOAA Tech Memo, NMFS-OPR-94-2, 35 p.
Reynolds III, John E. and Daniel K. Odell, eds. 1991. Marine Mammal Strandings in the United States [pdf] [14.9 MB]: Proceedings of the Second Marine Mammal Stranding Workshop; 3-5 December 1987, Miami, Florida. NOAA Technical Report NMFS 98.
Wilkinson, D. 1991. Report to Assistant Administrator for Fisheries: Program Review of the Marine Mammal Stranding Networks [pdf] [5.5 MB]. National Marine Fisheries Service. 171 p.

Guidance Manuals on Forensic, Necropsy, and Tissue Collection

McLellan, W.A., Rommel, S.A., Moore, M., Pabst, D.A. 2004. Right Whale Necropsy Protocol [pdf]. Contract report to NOAA Fisheries.
Geraci, J.R. and V.J. Lounsbury. 2005. Marine Mammals Ashore: A Field Guide for Strandings Second Edition. National Aquarium in Baltimore.
Federal Register Notice - Protocol for Access to Tissue Specimen Samples from the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank [pdf] (67FR-68553, 2002)
Dierauf, L.A. 1994. Pinniped Forensic, Necropsy, and Tissue Collection Guide [pdf] [2.9 MB], U.S. Dept. of Commer., NOAA Tech Memo. NMFS-OPR-94-3, 80 p.
Becker, P.R., S.A. Wise, B.J. Koster, R. Zeisler. 1991. Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue Archival Project: Revised Collection Protocol [pdf] [5.5 MB], U.S. Dep. Commer., National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 4529, 33 p.

Assessment of Current Response Practices

Gulland, F.M.D. 2006. Review of the Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event Response Program of the National Marine Fisheries Service. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-OPR-33, 37 p.
1997. DRAFT Release of Stranded Marine Mammals to the Wild: Background, Preparation, and Release Criteria [pdf] [7.2 MB], 76 p.
St. Aubin, D.J., J.R. Geraci. and V.J. Lounsbury, editors. 1996. Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Release of Marine Mammals: an Analysis of Current Views and Practices [pdf] [1.7 MB] Proceedings of a Workshop Held in Des Plaines, IL, 3-5 December 1991. NOAA Tech Memo, NMFS-OPR-8, 65 p.

Fact Sheets

Updated: July 17, 2012