Mortality and serious injury determinations for baleen whale stocks along the Gulf of Mexico, United States, United States East Coast and Atlantic Canadian Provinces, 2010-2014

• Main Authors: Henry, Allison, Cole, Timothy V.N., Hall, Lanni, Ledwell, Wayne, Morin, David Matthew, Reid, Andrew
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center 2016
• Subjects: Baleen whales > Mortality > Effect of human beings on > United States > Statistics.; Balaenoptera physalus; baleen whale; baleen whales; Eubalaena glacialis; Megaptera novaeangliae; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7289/v5b85661; https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/12413

Opportunistic reports were used to calculate rates of human-caused serious injury and mortality to baleen whale stocks along the Gulf of Mexico, United States east coast, and Atlantic Canadian Provinces for 2010 through 2014. All available information for reported whale injury and mortality events were evaluated by using criteria to assign injury severity and cause of injury or death for each event. The annual rate of human-caused serious injury and mortality rate during the period was 5.66 for North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis), 8.65 for Gulf of Maine humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), 3.8 for western North Atlantic fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), 0.8 for Nova Scotian sei whales (B. borealis), 8.0 for Canadian East Coast minke whales (B. acutorostrata), and 0 for northern Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whales (B. edeni) and western North Atlantic blue whales (B. musculus). The number of serious injuries and mortalities not reported is unknown, and actual levels may be much higher.