The Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center’s (PIFSC) Cetacean Research Program (CRP) has been conducting visual surveys for cetaceans in the waters surrounding Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) as part of an ongoing effort to develop a record of cetacean occurrence in the region. Visual surveys have been conducted aboard small boats (7.6–12.2 m) since 2010 off the southernmost islands of the Mariana Archipelago (Saipan, Tinian, Aguijan, Rota, and Guam). These surveys include the collection of photographs for individual identification, tissue samples for genetic analysis of population structure, and the deployment of satellite tags for assessment of individual movements throughout the broader region.

https://doi.org/10.25923/awmd-rf62

Technical Report