BLUE WHALE (Balaenoptera musculus): Western North Atlantic Stock
The distribution of the blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, in the western North Atlantic generally extends from the Arctic to at least mid-latitudes. Blue whales are most frequently sighted in the waters off eastern Canada, with the majority of recent records from the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Sears et...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.432.9538 2023-05-15T15:18:16+02:00 BLUE WHALE (Balaenoptera musculus): Western North Atlantic Stock Stock Definition Geographic Range The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives 1995 application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.432.9538 http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm114/pdfs/32.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.432.9538 http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm114/pdfs/32.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm114/pdfs/32.pdf CURRENT AND MAXIMUM NET PRODUCTIVITY RATES text 1995 ftciteseerx 2016-01-08T04:46:50Z The distribution of the blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, in the western North Atlantic generally extends from the Arctic to at least mid-latitudes. Blue whales are most frequently sighted in the waters off eastern Canada, with the majority of recent records from the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Sears et al. 1987). The species was hunted around Newfoundland in the first half of the 20th century (Sergeant 1966). The present Canadian distribution, broadly described, is spring, summer, and fall in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, especially along the north shore from the St. Lawrence River estuary to the Strait of Belle Isle and off eastern Nova Scotia. The species occurs in winter off southern Newfoundland and also in summer in Davis Strait (Mansfield 1985). The blue whale is best considered as an occasional visitor in U.S. Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters, which may be the current southern limit of its range (CeTAP 1982; Wenzel et al. 1988). All of the five sightings described in the foregoing two references were in August. Yochem and Leatherwood (1985) summarized records that suggested an occurrence of this species south to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, although the actual southern limit of the species ’ range is unknown. The blue whale may be nomadic and open-ocean in habitat. In one example, an individual was tracked from near Newfoundland to south of Bermuda (Gagnon and Clark 1993). POPULATION SIZE Little is known about the population size of blue whales except for in the Gulf of St. Lawrence area. Here, 308 individuals have been catalogued (Sears et al. 1987). Mitchell (1974) estimated that the blue whale population in the western North Atlantic may number only in the low hundreds. R. Sears (pers. comm.) suggests that no present evidence exists to refute this estimate. Minimum Population Estimate The 308 recognizable individuals from the Gulf of St. Lawrence area which were catalogued by Sears et al. (1987) is considered to be a minimum population estimate. Current Population Trend There are insufficient ... Text Arctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Davis Strait Newfoundland North Atlantic Strait of Belle Isle Unknown Arctic Belle Isle ENVELOPE(-55.357,-55.357,51.942,51.942) Canada Lawrence River ENVELOPE(-115.002,-115.002,58.384,58.384) Mansfield ENVELOPE(-45.733,-45.733,-60.650,-60.650) Strait of Belle Isle ENVELOPE(-57.115,-57.115,51.400,51.400) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
ftciteseerx |
language |
English |
topic |
CURRENT AND MAXIMUM NET PRODUCTIVITY RATES |
spellingShingle |
CURRENT AND MAXIMUM NET PRODUCTIVITY RATES Stock Definition Geographic Range BLUE WHALE (Balaenoptera musculus): Western North Atlantic Stock |
topic_facet |
CURRENT AND MAXIMUM NET PRODUCTIVITY RATES |
description |
The distribution of the blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, in the western North Atlantic generally extends from the Arctic to at least mid-latitudes. Blue whales are most frequently sighted in the waters off eastern Canada, with the majority of recent records from the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Sears et al. 1987). The species was hunted around Newfoundland in the first half of the 20th century (Sergeant 1966). The present Canadian distribution, broadly described, is spring, summer, and fall in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, especially along the north shore from the St. Lawrence River estuary to the Strait of Belle Isle and off eastern Nova Scotia. The species occurs in winter off southern Newfoundland and also in summer in Davis Strait (Mansfield 1985). The blue whale is best considered as an occasional visitor in U.S. Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters, which may be the current southern limit of its range (CeTAP 1982; Wenzel et al. 1988). All of the five sightings described in the foregoing two references were in August. Yochem and Leatherwood (1985) summarized records that suggested an occurrence of this species south to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, although the actual southern limit of the species ’ range is unknown. The blue whale may be nomadic and open-ocean in habitat. In one example, an individual was tracked from near Newfoundland to south of Bermuda (Gagnon and Clark 1993). POPULATION SIZE Little is known about the population size of blue whales except for in the Gulf of St. Lawrence area. Here, 308 individuals have been catalogued (Sears et al. 1987). Mitchell (1974) estimated that the blue whale population in the western North Atlantic may number only in the low hundreds. R. Sears (pers. comm.) suggests that no present evidence exists to refute this estimate. Minimum Population Estimate The 308 recognizable individuals from the Gulf of St. Lawrence area which were catalogued by Sears et al. (1987) is considered to be a minimum population estimate. Current Population Trend There are insufficient ... |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Stock Definition Geographic Range |
author_facet |
Stock Definition Geographic Range |
author_sort |
Stock Definition |
title |
BLUE WHALE (Balaenoptera musculus): Western North Atlantic Stock |
title_short |
BLUE WHALE (Balaenoptera musculus): Western North Atlantic Stock |
title_full |
BLUE WHALE (Balaenoptera musculus): Western North Atlantic Stock |
title_fullStr |
BLUE WHALE (Balaenoptera musculus): Western North Atlantic Stock |
title_full_unstemmed |
BLUE WHALE (Balaenoptera musculus): Western North Atlantic Stock |
title_sort |
blue whale (balaenoptera musculus): western north atlantic stock |
publishDate |
1995 |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.432.9538 http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm114/pdfs/32.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-55.357,-55.357,51.942,51.942) ENVELOPE(-115.002,-115.002,58.384,58.384) ENVELOPE(-45.733,-45.733,-60.650,-60.650) ENVELOPE(-57.115,-57.115,51.400,51.400) |
geographic |
Arctic Belle Isle Canada Lawrence River Mansfield Strait of Belle Isle |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Belle Isle Canada Lawrence River Mansfield Strait of Belle Isle |
genre |
Arctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Davis Strait Newfoundland North Atlantic Strait of Belle Isle |
genre_facet |
Arctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Davis Strait Newfoundland North Atlantic Strait of Belle Isle |
op_source |
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm114/pdfs/32.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.432.9538 http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm114/pdfs/32.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
_version_ |
1766348469269692416 |