Background
The UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) as it is now known is a consortium of four separate organisations. The CSIP is presently jointly funded by Defra, Welsh Assembly Government and Scottish Government. A Steering Group consisting of representatives of UK government and Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC; managers of the current contract) monitor progress and provide guidance on the objectives and output of the CSIP. The organisational structure of the CSIP and the responsibilities of each organisation are shown below.
.
NB PMEs- Post-mortem examinations
Every year, between 550 and 800 cetaceans are found stranded around UK shores (2003-2007 stranding data). Most are dead, but some are still alive and more than 13,000 stranded cetaceans have been recorded in the UK since records began in 1913. The figure below shows the number of individual species found stranded during the five year period between 2003 and 2007.
| Species |
Number of strandings
|
| Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) |
1924
|
| Short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) |
685
|
| Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) |
76
|
| Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) |
72
|
| Long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) |
52
|
| Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) |
48
|
| Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) |
43
|
| Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) |
40
|
| White beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) |
37
|
| Sperm whale (Physeter catodon) |
28
|
| Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) |
14
|
| Northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) |
12
|
| Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens) |
11
|
| Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) |
11
|
| Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) |
7
|
| Killer whale (Orcinus orca) |
5
|
| Pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) |
1
|
| Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) |
28
|
| Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) |
20
|
| Other turtle species |
4
|
| Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) |
5*
|
| Indeterminate species |
504
|
| Total |
3627
|
As well as recording information on each stranding found in the UK, the CSIP are also currently contracted to investigate 100 stranded cetaceans at post-mortem each year. Additional details on the arrangements for post-mortem investigations in the UK can be found in the CSIP annual report for 2007:
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=WC0601_7291_ANN.pdf
and also in the recently published JNCC review of the CSIP:
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=WC0601_7415_GEN.pdf
