Abstract:
A well-maintained marine mammal stranding database can be an invaluable tool in
understanding not only stranding but also changes in the marine environment. This
study aimed to examine the following aspects of marine mammal stranding in the
Peninsular Malaysia: species composition, temporal (i.e., frequency of stranding per
year and seasonality) and spatial (i.e., frequency of stranding per region and state)
variation and stranding hotspots. This study is done in collaboration with Turtle and
Marine Ecosystem Centre (TUMEC) under the Department of Fisheries Malaysia
which acted as the sole provider of the cetacean stranding dataset recorded from 2004
to 2013 in Peninsular Malaysia waters. A total of 48 stranding occasions were
recorded which all of them were classified as single stranding, with an average of five
observed stranding occasions annually.
