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    • This is a Non-Federal dataset covered by different Terms of Use than Data.gov.

    Southern Sea Otter Stranding Database

    Metadata Updated: July 23, 2025

    This dataset is a record of all verified stranded (live sick/injured, dead beached/floating) southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) in California. The data collected include the date and location of stranding, condition, age class and sex of the animal, morphometrics, and very general external and internal necropsy findings. These data have been collected continually since 1968 and are used to identify unusual mortality events, track causes of anthropogenic mortality for mitigation, and inform resource managers about the extent and causes of mortality affecting the southern sea otter population. These data may also be used during or after an oil spill for Natural Resource Damage Assessment purposes, or to inform best achievable recovery and care of live animals. Prior to 2019, the data were managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and data from 1985 to 2018 are available on the USGS website. Data from the earliest years are not yet available in a standardized electronic format, but a subset of the database from 2019 onward is available through this portal. A stranding summary report is also provided for each year starting in 2019.

    This data and metadata were submitted by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Staff though the Data Management Plan (DMP) framework with the id: DMP000394. For more information, please visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Data/Sci-Data.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. Non-Federal: This dataset is covered by different Terms of Use than Data.gov. License: See this page for license information.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date August 12, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date July 23, 2025

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from State of California

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date August 12, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date July 23, 2025
    Publisher California Department of Fish and Wildlife
    Maintainer
    Identifier dc788d76-cb44-4589-9591-adfdfd654131
    Data First Published 2023-07-19T17:01:09.847886
    Data Last Modified 2025-06-05T19:43:23.879949
    Category Natural Resources
    Public Access Level public
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Harvest Object Id d9a37665-308c-45cb-aefe-f7db3ffd91c1
    Harvest Source Id 3ba8a0c1-5dc2-4897-940f-81922d3cf8bc
    Harvest Source Title State of California
    License http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash 75c41282372bbd2054129e34b08d4de45c289f5f1a9dd3dbdb946ce134d6dcc5
    Source Schema Version 1.1

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