20220720 vector digital data Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute https://myfwc.com/research/wildlife/sea-turtles/mortality/stranding-salvage-network/ https://myfwc.com/research/gis/ Coordinated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission - Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI), the Florida Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network (STSSN) is responsible for gathering standardized data on stranded marine turtles throughout the state. The Florida STSSN functions as a part of an eighteen state network led by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). In Florida, strandings are documented by FWRI staff biologists and by a network of permitted participants located around the state. Live strandings are rescued and transported to properly permitted rehabilitation facilities. Data from strandings are collected on a standardized reporting form and include date, species, location, carapace length and width, carcass condition, carcass disposition, and information on anomalies (e.g., entanglement, propeller damage, fibropapillomas). Additionally, certain carcasses are regularly collected by FWRI staff for gross or detailed necropsy. Each week, FWRI reports Florida strandings to NMFS as a part of a management plan that is intended to reduce the incidental take of turtles in the shrimp fishery. FWRI also generates monthly and yearly stranding summary reports to monitor mortality and to detect and describe any unusual stranding events. Stranding data collected through the Florida STSSN have been used extensively in the identification of mortality factors and in the development of recovery actions (e.g., Turtle Excluder Device (TED) requirements, gill net regulations). This dataset includes traditional stranding reports, not other types of sea turtle stranding encounters that are reported to the STSSN. The purpose is to monitor marine turtle mortality and identify mortality factors in Florida by documenting stranded marine turtles. A stranding is any dead sea turtle that is found floating or washed ashore. Strandings also include live turtles that are found with life-threatening problems (e.g., sick, injured, or entangled). The location of the stranding when first reported is the point location that appears in this database and may or may not be the location at the time of death. The following are not included in this database: strandings of sea turtles that were not identified to species, strandings where a latitude and longitude could not be determined, and strandings of captive-reared turtles. Turtles that are known to be captured incidental to some activity (i.e., commercial fisheries, research projects, power plant operations, etc.) are not included in this database. Stranding data are often used to monitor mortality rates and may sometimes be used as an indicator of the relative distributions and abundances of different species and sizes of sea turtles. However, there are several considerations to keep in mind when using stranding data for these purposes. 1) Not all turtles that die are discovered, reported, and documented by the STSSN. A majority of dead turtles probably do not wash ashore. Of those that do wash ashore, many may become hidden in mangroves or other vegetation, and some that strand on open, sandy beaches may still go unreported. Therefore, sea turtle stranding data represent only a subset of all dead turtles. 2) Decreases or increases in stranding numbers may not be due to decreases or increases in mortality rates. For example, mortality rates may remain unchanged but decreases or increases in local turtle populations may result in changes in the number of strandings. 3) Carcasses and debilitated turtles may drift hundreds of kilometers before being documented as a stranding. Turtles may strand on beaches adjacent to well-used in-water habitats, but they may also strand along areas where they do not normally occur. 19860101 20220720 Ground condition Complete Annually -87.51509 -79.4862 30.7219 24.2298 ISO 19115 Topic Category oceans environment biota EPA GIS Keyword Thesaurus Conservation Marine Biology Natural Resources Ecosystem Environment Ecology ISO 19115 Topic Categories biota oceans environment FMRItheme turtles sturgeon) mortality whales strandings manatees threatened and endangered (turtles FMRIplace Florida FMRIstratum surface All data must be verified by Principle Investigator or Group Database Analyst prior to release All data must be credited to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission - Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute Allen M. Foley, Ph D. Wildlife Biologist, FL STSSN coordinator (904)573-3930 (904)573-4982 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission - Fish and Wildlife Research Institute's Marine Turtle Program; Florida Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network; National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Species Management. Version 6.2 (Build 9200) ; Esri ArcGIS 10.9.1.28388 records verified by stranding coordinators complete Data were collected using methods that have unknown accuracy (EPA National Geospatial Data Policy [NGDP] Accuracy Tier 10). For more information, please see EPA's NGDP at http://epa.gov/geospatial/policies.html) Vector Entity point 52444 sea_turtle_strandings_July_2022_points_Web Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network OBJECTID Internal feature number. Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. Esri Coordinates defining the features. STSSNID STSSN record identifier Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network ReportDate Reported date of stranding Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network SpeciesCom State State in which the stranding was reported Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network County County in which the stranding was reported Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network Latitude Latitude of the stranding event in decimal degrees. Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network Longitude Longitude of the stranding event in decimal degrees. Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network InitialCon SCL Measures the straight-line length of the carapace of the stranded sea turtle in centimeters. Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network SCW Measures the straight-line width of the carapace of the stranded sea turtle in centimeters. Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network CCL Measures the curved length of the carapace of the stranded sea turtle in centimeters. Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network CCW Measures the curved width of the carapace of the stranded sea turtle in centimeters. Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network YEAR_ MONTH_ DAY_ Sea Turtle Stranding And Salvage Network new_attribute 20220805 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Marine Turtle Program Robert Hardy mailing and physical

100 Eighth Avenue Southeast

Saint Petersburg Florida 33701 (727)896-8626 FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 local time