VII. Stranding Networks and National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank During 1990 and 1991, NMFS completed its review of the stranding network program, implemented changes to respond to program weaknesses, established the marine mammal tissue bank, and created a Task Force on Unusual Mortality. This chapter describes these activities and highlights of Regional programs. Program Review During 1990, NMFS completed its review of stranding network capabilities and actions required to improve data collection. The review found inconsistencies in the Regional programs. The review also identified basic data that should be collected at stranding events. In response to these findings, NMFS recommended the standardization of certain element and developed a common set of program goals. These goals are: 1. To achieve maximum feasible reporting of and response to stranding events; 2. To achieve accurate documentation of data on stranding report forms; 3. To provide for the protection, welfare, and humane treatment (including, when appropriate, euthanasia) of live stranded animals; 4. To provide, when appropriate, for the rehabilitation of sick or injured marine mammals and the care of abandoned or orphaned immature animals. Once rehabilitated, it will be a primary goal that such animals be returned to the wild. As a secondary goal, such animals may serve as a substitute for capturing animals from the wild under public display permits; 5. To gain the maximum amount of scientific information from dead stranded marine mammals and, where consistent with other goals, from live stranded marine mammals; 6. To generate information that will assist in making management decisions on both marine mammals and fisheries; 7. To the extent feasible, tissues from stranded marine mammals should be collected, curated in accordance with professional standards, and provided to legitimate researchers and to institutions that maintain marine mammal collections meeting curatorial and archival standards; 8. To collect and preserve tissues in accordance with standard protocols which can be used to monitor natural mortality and the types and levels of environmental contaminants; and 9. To disseminate accurate information from marine mammal strandings for scientific and public education purposes. Recent mortality events revealed a lack of baseline data and the need for high quality tissue samples from freshly dead animals. NMFS has responded to these deficiencies by preparing a field guide that provides protocols for information collection and tissue sampling. In addition, the Service has also prepared and pre-positioned tissue sampling kits throughout the Southeast Region. To facilitate research efforts associated with stranded animals, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries determined that a research permit was not required for tagging stranded animals that have been rehabilitated and released. Tagging or marking allows researchers to identify animals that re-strand. Radio tagging enables researchers to monitor the movement of rehabilitated animals. Tissue Bank Following the 1987-1988 mortality of bottlenose dolphins on the eastern U.S. coastline, NMFS realized that researchers lacked adequate baseline data to investigate this event. This deficiency was particularly acute with respect to the impacts of anthropogenic contaminants. In response, NMFS initiated steps to establish a National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank. A number of activities have been undertake associated with the tissue bank, including a rulemaking regarding the disposition of tissues, preliminary studies, and the development of quality (QA) procedures. Rulemaking On August 20, 1991, NMFS published a rule that clarified authority to retain or transfer tissues from stranded marine mammals. The rule allows salvage of tissues from stranded animals by authorized individuals and requires that tissues be properly curated and registered with the appropriate NMFS Regional office. In addition, the regulation established procedures for transfer of tissues. Transfer of tissues to authorized individuals is allowed without prior authorization. Advance notice, however, is required when tissues are transferred to individuals without permits. Preliminary Studies NWFSC is conducting analyses to establish baseline concentrations of selected chemical contaminants and biotoxins in marine mammals. Specific contaminants of concern include chlorinated hydrocarbons (e.g. PCBs), chlorinated pesticides, and heavy metals. The studies used tissues obtained from pilot whales stranded along the Atlantic Coast, bottlenose dolphins stranded in the Gulf of Mexico, and gray whales stranded along the Pacific and Alaska coasts. Results showed elevated levels of PCBs and several heavy metals in pilot whales. Several mother-fetus pairs were analyzed and results, to date, show maternal transfer of selected metals (e.g., cadmium) to the fetus. Concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons and some trace metals in the bottlenose dolphin tissue samples prompted researchers to expand this effort in September 1991. In contrast, concentrations of anthropogenic contaminants in gray whales were generally less than the levels in pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins, and are considered to be below levels of toxicological concern. Quality Assurance Procedures The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing a Quality Assurance (QA) program to ensure accuracy, precision, level of detection, and intercomparability of chemical analyses of tissue samples. NIST is implementing this program through (1) interlaboratory comparison exercises and the development of Standard Reference Materials (SRMs). Interlaboratory comparisons involve the preparation of tissue control materials using tissues collected from stranded pilot whales. NIST distributed the samples to NWFSC and several other laboratories for trace element and organic contaminant analyses. The results from this exercise will soon be compiled and distributed. NIST has initiated development of a whale blubber SRM for use in measuring PCBs and chlorinated pesticides in marine mammal tissue. Tissue control material will be distributed to NWFSC and other interested laboratories as a second comparison exercise. Several different approaches will be used to identify an approach that yields "certified" concentrations. The whale blubber SRM should be available by October 1992. Development of a whale liver SRM for trace element analysis is planned. Task Group on Unusual Marine Mammal Mortalities NMFS is concerned about unusual marine mammal mortality events. In response, the Service has established a Task Group with representatives from several scientific specialties. Members of the task group are consulted when an unusual mortality is suspected. At a meeting on April 10, 1991, the task group defined criteria for initiating consultations. These criteria are:  A marked increase in the magnitude of strandings when compared with prior records. Magnitude by itself may not be an indication of an unusual mortality event and should be weighed against other knowledge;  Animals are stranding at a time of the year when strandings are unusual;  An increase in strandings is occurring in a very localized area (possibly suggesting a localized problem), is occurring throughout the geographic range of a species/population, or spreads geographically with time;  The age or sex composition of the stranded animals is different than that of animals that normally strand in the area at a specific time of the year;  Stranded animals exhibit a similar or unusual pathology or the general physical condition (e.g., blubber thickness) of stranded animals is different from what is normally seen; and  Unusual or severely endangered species are stranding. Stranding of three or four right whales, for example, may be cause for concern whereas stranding of a similar number of gray whales would not. Using these criteria, NMFS staff and researchers contacted the Task Group three times in 1991. In the first case, 38 (*what kind?) seals stranded in the Long Island area from mid- February to mid-May. The rate was above normal and many of the animals had a similar pathology: small, dark, raised rhomboidal lesions on the skin. Analyses of some samples tentatively attributed the stranding to an Erysipelothrix bacillus which was cultured from some of the seals. These strandings occurred along the Long Island coast, and similar mortalities were not observed in adjacent states. "Ice" seals continue to strand as far south as New Jersey. The second incident involved a higher than normal stranding rate of California sea lions along the central California coast from late July to the end of October 1991. Nearly 150 animals were diagnosed as having leptospirosis, a disease that is endemic in the population. Based on this finding, the task group's only recommendation was to monitor the number of animals affected. From September to December 1991, 35 bottlenose dolphins stranded in the counties surrounding Sarasota, FL, more than three times the historical rate. The majority of the animals were juvenile males. Analyses are being conducted but results are not yet available. Regional Stranding Networks The following descriptions of Regional stranding activity presents significant accomplishments and summarizes stranding reports. All strandings are reported in exhibit D-1 in Appendix D. Northeast In 1990, the state of Maryland, with the assistance of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, began to take a more active role in the Regional Network. The state of Delaware's involvement also increased. The Region reported the following stranding data and significant events. In 1990, there were 174 pinniped and 164 cetacean strandings. Reported strandings increased in 1991 to 276 pinnipeds and 225 cetaceans. The cetacean totals include a number of mass stranded pilot whales. In September 1990, fifty-five pilot whales stranded in Hyannis, MA. Two juveniles were rehabilitated at the New England Aquarium and released in the spring of 1991. Four separate stranding events involving 96 pilot whales were reported during the fall and winter of 1991. Efforts to return the whales to the wild resulted in only 37 successful releases. Six of 23 whales tagged and released were observed one month later swimming normally near a group of 30 untagged whales. A Cape Cod stranding response group began in December 1991 for the purpose of getting to stranded pilot whales quickly, with experienced personnel, to effect a quick release of the animals. Southeast The Southeast Stranding Network is comprised of over 100 participants who are issued Letters of Authorization (LOA) by the Region. The Southeast Region maintains a directory of participants which includes LOA holders and authorized government workers. Following a response to a stranding event, participants complete and submit a standard form. A volunteer compiles data from these forms and produces a quarterly report. A major initiative in the Region is a cooperative effort between the SEFSC's Miami Laboratory and the Stranding Network to improve both the quantity and quality of data obtained from stranding events. As a result of this effort, SEFSC has developed a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses seven themes. Of these seven themes, four relate to population biology and the remainder are associated with the extent and causes of mortality. In 1990, there were 728 documented strandings of cetaceans in the Southeast Region. Bottlenose dolphins accounted for nearly 80 percent of the strandings, while the remainder included at least 16 other species. During 1991, there were 632 documented strandings of cetaceans. Once again, bottlenose dolphins accounted for the majority of strandings (nearly 70 percent), and 21 additional species accounted for the remainder of the strandings. Southwest The Region reported 1,233 pinniped strandings in 1990 and 167 in 1991. Reported cetacean strandings decreased from 88 in 1990 to 67 in 1991. Northwest In 1990, the Northwest Marine Mammal Stranding Network responded to 227 reported strandings or unusual events in Oregon and Washington. Pinniped strandings accounted for the majority (85 percent) of these investigations. Network participants investigated 136 reported standings or unusual events in 1991; 77 percent of these involved pinnipeds. Unusual events include reports of live animals in distress. Alaska The Alaska Region Stranding Network investigated 87 cetacean strandings in 1990. Of these, the most common species were gray whales (27 strandings), harbor porpoise (17), and killer whale (10). In 1991, the network reported 39 cetacean strandings. The most common species again were gray whales (17), harbor porpoise (9), and killer whale (8). With a few notable exceptions, most stranding reports involve dead animals. In 1990, a humpback whale live-stranded on a sand bar in the Copper River Delta. The whale managed to back off with its flippers and was gone at high tide. Six killer whales live-stranded temporarily in Chignik lagoon in 1990. One of the animals re-stranded a day later and died, and four days later, a second whale was found dead within the area. A pathological investigation was unable to identify a cause of this stranding event. During 1991, six killer whales live stranded in Turnagain Arm. NMFS biologists applied wet blankets to some of the animals until high tide occurred, freeing the animals with no observable significant damage.