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Mortality determinations for Baleen whale stocks along the Gulf of Mexico, United States east coast, and Atlantic Canadian provinces, 2007-2011
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2013
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[PDF-578.14 KB]
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Description:"The Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) developed criteria to evaluate reports of human-caused mortality to baleen whales. The criteria minimize the likelihood of incorrectly assigning whale mortalities to human causes and provide a minimum count of human-caused events. This report describes determinations made for reports received from 2007-2011 involving North Atlantic right (Eubalaena glacialis), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), fin (Balaenoptera physalus), sei (B. borealis), blue (B. musculus), minke (B. acutorostrata), and B ryde's (B. edeni) whales observed along coastal Gulf of Mexico, the eastern seaboard of the United States, and the Atlantic Canadian provinces. We confirmed a total of 306 mortalities: 56 (18%) due to human interaction; 14 (5%) due to natural causes; and 236 (77%) which lacked sufficient evidence to determine cause of death. Of the human-caused mortalities, 28 were due to entanglement and 28 were vessel strike. Minke whales had the greatest number of entanglement mortalities (n=9) and humpback whales had the greatest number of vessel strike mortalities (n=9). These mortality numbers are minimum counts because of a low probability of detecting events and inadequate documentation for the majority of events that are detected. Despite the minimum values, the mean annual confirmed human-caused mortality rate exceeds PBR for four of the seven stocks examined, including North Atlantic right, humpback, sei, and Bryde's whales. The true level of anthropogenic mortality to these stocks is greater than these minimum values, but the amount greater is unknown"--Abstract.
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Content Notes:by Allison G. Henry, Timothy V.N. Cole, Lanni Hall, Wayne Ledwell, David Morin, and Andrew Reid.
"March 2013."
"Web version posted November 15, 2013"--Document home page.
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Includes bibliographical references (page 6).
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Rights Information:Public Domain
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