INVESTIGATION OF CETACEAN STRANDINGS AROUND THE UK COAST

Tender description

The principal requirement of this project is to provide a coordinated approach to surveillance of cetacean strandings and to investigate causes of death of stranded cetaceans, and occasionally other vulnerable species such as turtles and basking sharks in the UK . This project is to be funded by Defra, Marine Scotland and the Welsh Government. This project has the following aims: • To collect/collate, analyse and report data for all cetacean strandings around the coast of the UK; • To determine the causes of death in stranded cetaceans • To undertake surveillance on the incidence of disease in stranded cetaceans in order to identify any substantial new threats to their conservation status; • To investigate the potential interaction between feeding behaviour, fisheries and stranded cetaceans through examination of the contents of the stomach; to investigate prey (possibly identify prey from otoliths) and to also record any evidence of ‘litter’. • Maintain the cetacean stranding investigation programme (CSIP) database • To make information on strandings and post-mortems results available to the Department and Devolved Administrations by quarterly reports and publicly available by annual reports, • To establish, improve and maintain relationships with international peer projects, regional volunteer networks local authorities and other stakeholders who may support the achievement of project objectives • To consider innovative ways to support efficiency and capacity of the programme within the project budget, to then present ideas and ways of streamlining the project. • To seek opportunities for external funding within and outside of the UK