? What to do if you find a stranded whale or dolphin ? If you find a LIVE stranded or injured whale or dolphin on the beach you must send for help QUICKLY. A whale or dolphin stranding is an emergency and the speed of response by a professional rescue team is perhaps the most crucial factor in determining whether or not an animal can be returned to the sea alive. Identification Key for Stranded Cetaceans

EMERGENCY NUMBERS FOR LIVE CETACEAN STRANDINGS ENGLAND WALES SCOTLAND IRELAND 0300 1234 999 0300 1234 999 0131 339 0111 See Below CORNWALL JERSEY GUERNSEY SHETLANDS 0845 201 2626 01534 724331 00 44 1481 257261 Would you know what to do if you found a whale stranded on a beach?

Each year anywhere between five and 50 whales, dolphins and porpoises are washed up on Britain's beaches.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue, a volunteer charity, was set up in 1998 to rescue them. BBC News Report on How to Rescue a Stranded Cetacean (Link)







British Divers Marine Life Rescue 01825 765546

The UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) has been running since 1990 and is funded by Defra and the Devolved Administrations. They coordinate the investigation of all whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans), marine turtles and basking sharks that strand around the UK coastline. As well as documenting each individual stranding, we also retrieve a proportion for investigation at post-mortem to allow us to establish a cause of death. The data and samples collected during the course of our research have also facilitated a large number of international collaborations, which have addressed a wide range of scientific questions. CSIP Stranded (Dead) Animal Call Line: 0800 6520333 More Stranded Animal Report Numbers (Link) TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR DEAD CETACEAN STRANDINGS ENGLAND WALES SCOTLAND IRELAND 0207 942 5155 01348 875000 01463 243030 See Below CORNWALL JERSEY GUERNSEY SHETLANDS 0845 201 2626 01534 724331 00 44 1481 727967 UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) IF YOU FIND A STRANDED MARINE ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT THE RELEVANT AUTHORITIES:

FOR LIVE STRANDINGS England & Wales: RSPCA 0300 1234999

British Divers Marine Life Rescue 01825 765546

Scotland: SSPCA 0131 3390111

FOR DEAD STRANDINGS

England (cetaceans): Natural History Museum 0207 9425155

England (seals & turtles): Zoological Society of London 0207 4496672

Wales (all species): Marine Environmental Monitoring 01348 875000

Scotland (all species): SAC Veterinary Services 01463 243030

or

07979 245893 (out of hours) Scotland: If you find a DEAD, stranded marine animal please call 01463 243030 or 07979 245893.

Rescue for LIVE strandings can be called 24 hours a day through: Scottish SPCA Animal Helpline (03000 999 999) or British Divers Marine Life Rescue (01825 765546).



















The following telephone numbers are the ones recommended: ENGLAND AND WALES

RSPCA Emergency Number - 0300 1234 999

British Divers Marine Life Rescue - UK National Hotline 01825 765546

CORNWALL

0845 201 2626

SCOTLAND

Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit -

Scottish Hotline 01261 851696 / 851815 (24 hrs) SSPCA 0131 339 0111 IRELAND Irish Live Strandings Guide:

http://www.iwdg.ie/strandings.asp?cat=31&search= North Coast/Northern Ireland.

For advice and on-site assistance (where possible).

Ian Enlander. Tel: 048 9054 6610

Jim Allen: Tel: 048 7034 7282

East Coast.

For advice and on-site assistance.

Dave Wall. Tel: 087 2977931.

South Coast.

For advice and on-site assistance.

Dr. Emer Rogan. Tel: 087 699 5314.

Padraig Whooley. Tel: 086 3850568.

West Coast.

For advice and on-site assistance (where possible). Also Rescue Pontoons.

Dr. Simon Berrow. Tel: 086 8545450.

.................................................

The IWDG also has a network of Local Contacts who will offer help and advice and (where possible) assist on site.

Finally you should also contact your local wildlife/heritage officer.

Dúchas. Tel: (01) 647 2404.

Jersey the JSPCA deal with live strandings Tel 01534 724331

The next numbers are the ones to use if the previous numbers are unavailable for some reason: Environment Agency Emergency Number - 0800 807 060

Sea Watch Foundation, instruction and telephone numbers:

http://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/strandings.htm Most of the cetaceans washed up are already dead. Some are on amenity beaches and the Local Authority soon gets informed. However, others are on remote beaches, sometimes in inaccessible coves. The urgency is not important in these cases, but records are being kept of all cetaceans washed up. If you have a digital camera, take a photograph and note the following information:  Please give your name and number.

 An accurate description of where the animal is.

 What you think the animal is.

 An approximate length of the animal.

 Condition of the carcass: i.e. freshly dead, slight decomposition, moderate decomposition, advanced decomposition

and report the find on the following telephone numbers:



TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR DEAD CETACEAN STRANDINGS ENGLAND WALES SCOTLAND IRELAND 0207 942 5155 01348 875000 01463 243030 See Below CORNWALL JERSEY GUERNSEY SHETLANDS 01534 724331 00 44 1481 727967

England and Wales Natural History Museum 0207 942 5155 9 (Mondays to Fridays only) Scotland

Deceased cetaceans should be reported to the Scottish Agricultural College

(SAC) on 01463 243030 Ireland Irish Whale and Dolphin Strandings Scheme

E-mail: strandings@iwdg.ie

Dave Wall

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group

ICSS Online Strandings Database

Tel: 087 2977931

Dr. Simon Berrow

Merchants Quay, Kilrush, Co Clare.

Tel: 086 8545450

Dr. Emer Rogan

Dept. of Zoology & Animal Ecology, UCC, Lee Maltings, Prospect Row, Cork, Ireland.

Tel: 087-6995314 or 021 4904197



As the Natural History Museum have an answerphone system in operation, you may also wish to inform the following groups who will be interested in your discoveries: Seaquest SW now coordinates responses to strandings (and welcomes records of sightings ) of marine life in the south west. Cornwall now has a dedicated 24 hour hotline for reporting cetacean strandings which is 0845 201 2626. Seals alive or dead should be reported to the

National Seal Sanctuary 01326 221 361. For Devon strandings should be reported to Gavin Black at the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre at Devon WT 01392 279244, but if you cannot get through then contact Lindy Hingley on 01803 771092 or the National Marine Aquarium 01752 600301, where my colleague Rolf Williams or myself will deal with it.

Regional groups keep their own records, so they will appreciate it if they are informed.

The British Marine Life Study Society are interested for our news pages where the most unusual and interesting of whale and dolphin strandings and other aspects of marine life: turtles, swarms of jellyfish, unusual angling captures, sharks and whales seen at sea, as well as anything that lives one the shore and beneath the waves. The contact telephone number for reports is: 01273 465433 The Email address which is often better for the general (less newsworthy) discoveries is: Glaucus@hotmail.com The following eforums can be used to report marine life including cetaceans: Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Group

Group Home: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Glaucus UK Cetnet

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKCetnet Marine Mammals of the English Channel

http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/mammal Cornish Wildlife

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CornishWildlife