To assess the potential impacts on seabirds, turtles and marine mammals from oil and gas production from the oceanic Pre-Salt province at Brazil’s Santos Basin, the Brazilian environmental agency (IBAMA) required PETROBRAS, the main oil company in the basin, to implement the “Programa de Monitoramento de Praias da Bacia de Santos” (Santos Basin Beach Monitoring Program - PMP-BS). Since 2015 PMP-BS has been operating along the states of Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, to collect biological data from live and dead stranded animals. This dataset comprises the first three years of monitoring (September 2015 to August 2018) along the northern São Paulo State coastline, from 23°22'17.366" S 44°47'0.479" W to 23°45'24.046" S 45°50'23.335" W. During this period, 5450 animals of 47 species were recorded, 82.11% of which were dead and 17.89% alive when first observed. This dataset represents the first high-intensity monitoring effort in the area and is essential to establish baselines for future work that seek to better understand the impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems.

This dataset represents the records of stranded animals made at PMP-BS’ Sector 10 (23°22’17.366” S 44°47’0.479” W and 23°45’24.046” S 45°50’23.335” W), in the state of São Paulo, including beaches at the Ubatuba, Bertioga, São Sebastião, Ilhabela and Caraguatatuba counties. The surveyed area includes 218 beaches, with a total extent of 138.1 Km. Beaches were monitored either daily (108.23 Km) or weekly (29.87 Km), preferentially in the morning. Additionally, a toll-free number was made available, so that local communities could inform of stranded animals. Records made during regular monitoring or by calls from the local public are separately identified in the data.

The data presented here describe animals recorded from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2018. All animals observed during beach surveys were recorded. Depending on the decomposition stage, carcasses were either disposed of, or taken to the laboratory for necropsy. Animals that stranded alive and needed veterinary treatment were taken to rehabilitation centers maintained by the institutions part of the PMP-BS. Sex, development and maturation stage were identified using external characters or by direct examination of gonads during necropsy. All recovered carcasses were submitted to biometry. For fresh carcasses, samples were collected for histopathological analysis, natural history and any other analyses needed to identify the cause of death.

Taxonomic identification was usually done using morphologic characters, but when this was not possible owing to decomposition or predation, a molecular analysis was performed, by sequencing the COI gene and identification the species using the Barcode of Life Data System. Taxonomical classification follows the taxa retrieved from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (http://www.itis.gov) on March 2016.

Specimens were collected under permit “ABIO No. 640/2015” from Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renováveis – IBAMA.

This dataset presents part of the data generated by the Santos Basin Beach Monitoring Project (PMP-BS, from “Projeto de Monitoramento de Praias da Bacia de Santos”), which aims to evaluate the potential impacts from oil and gas production at the oceanic Pre-Salt province on Brazil’s Santos Basin. This project was required by the federal environmental agency in Brazil (IBAMA), as part of the environmental licensing of PETROBRAS’ activities in the area, together with other monitoring programs (further information can be obtained at http://www.comunicabaciadesantos.com.br). The PMP-BS focuses on beached seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals, as requested by the environmental agency.

Due to the large extension of the monitored area (> 1,000Km), it was divided in 15 ‘sectors’, that were under the responsibility of different institutions and data from each sector are being reported in separate data papers. To guarantee that data was collected homogeneously, all institutions followed the same field protocols (available at http://www.comunicabaciadesantos.com.br), which were based on national and international protocols. A central data repository has been developed (“Sistema de Monitoramento da Biota Aquática – SIMBA”), allowing for the standardization and organization of all data generated by the PMP-BS, linking data obtained at the field to laboratory analyses.

Resources in Dryad:

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the South Santa Catarina state coastline, from 2015 to 2018. (data paper). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.prr4xgxgw

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the Central-south Santa Catarina coast, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m0cfxpnzj

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along central Santa Catarina coast, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4b8gtht7x

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the central-north Santa Catarina coast, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018 (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.x95x69pd9

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the northern Santa Catarina coast, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5hqbzkh26

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the Paraná coast, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k0p2ngf48

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the southern São Paulo coast, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8gtht76jm

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the central-south coast of São Paulo, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z612jm67w

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the central-north São Paulo coast, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f4qrfj6s2

Strandings of marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds along the northern São Paulo coast, Brazil, from 2015 to 2018. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z8w9ghx77