Cetacean stranding in penisular Malaysia : past and present

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.