[13] If latitude and longitude are not readily available, record best available position, for example 5 hours at 10 knots, SE of Miami.
[14] Any oceanographic or bathymetric information obtainable at the time of sighting may be significant. Such measurements as water depth, presence of large fish schools, or deep scattering layer/organisms (DSL) characteristics of the bottom (e.g., flat sand plain, sea mount, submarine cliff), surface temperature, depth of thermocline, and salinity should be included if available. In the Pacific, similar data have been used to demonstrate reliable associations there between saddleback dolphins and significant features of bottom relief and relationships between the onset of their nighttime deep diving (feeding) patterns and the upward migration of the scattering layers.
[15] Sometimes two or more species of cetacean are found together. If more than one species is sighted, try to identify each. Give both common and scientific names of each, and even if you cannot identify the animal(s) describe, sketch, and, if possible, photograph them and fill out the rest of the sighting report.
[16] Describe any tags seen (see Appendix A) and state their size, shape, color, and position on the animal's body and any symbols or numbers they contain.
APPENDIX C
STRANDED WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES
With a Key to the Identification of Stranded Cetaceans of the Western North Atlantic
Stranded Animals
As we discussed briefly in the introduction to this guide, whales, dolphins, and porpoises sometimes "strand" or "beach" themselves, individually or in entire herds, for a complex of still incompletely understood reasons. Though the reasons suggested for these strandings appear almost as numerous as the strandings themselves, two tenable generalizations have recently been proposed.