CSS employee owner and Marine Mammal Microplastic Specialist supporting NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science assists the South Carolina Marine Mammal Stranding Network in responding to dead marine mammals when they strand on beaches or estuaries throughout South Carolina. This is work is critical for human and environmental health because it provides invaluable samples which allow scientists to
- better understand ecosystem conditions since marine mammals are important indicators of the health of their environment,
- gain insight to the health of the marine mammal community,
- assume potential impacts for humans living in the coastal zone.
In addition, removing marine mammal carcasses from public spaces helps avoid potential disease transfer to humans.
The Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network (LMMN) is the current NOAA Fisheries permit holder—a permit required by the Marine Mammals Protection and Endangered Species Act for research including collecting samples for biopsies. The organization currently has only one staff member dedicated to these responses. Since responding to stranded, deceased marine mammals is not safe or possible to do alone, CSS staff supporting NCCOS frequently assist with field responses, conducting necropsies (i.e. animal autopsies), and sample collection.
Following sample collection, the CSS Marine Mammal Microplastic Specialist is specifically responsible for the gastrointestinal assessment. Responsibilities for this task include dissecting and analyzing the stomach and entire intestinal tracts of stranded marine mammals. This assessment helps provide information regarding the animal’s recent diet and is one of the final determinants of whether an animal was affected by human interaction, specifically by ingesting microplastics. This data is used by LMMN, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, and NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
See More CSS Insights
Preparing and Delivering Samples for Travel to the International Space Station
CSS employee owners on contract with NASA delivered six newly prepared Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA)—a high temperature furnace with temperature and timing control for melting samples to create different materials and alloys—samples for the NG-23 launch, which took place on September 14, 2025. On this mission, samples are being delivered for…
Expanding a Popular Flood Exposure Tool
We recently assisted our client, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management, with updating one of their most popular tools, the Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper.
Atmospheric Processing System Support
The NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) is an operational retrieval algorithm that NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services has been using since 2002. This system generates near real-time atmospheric profiles of temperature, water vapour, and trace gases, as well as Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) needed for weather forecasting. CSS Remote Sensing…