26134
Abundance of cetatceans in the southern U.S. North Atlantic Ocean during summer 1998
Document
Published / External
25886
Atlantic Marine Mammal Assessment Vessel Surveys
Project
Completed
2003-04-03
The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act requires that the abundance of marine mammals in U.S. waters be assessed. Because this requirement had not been met for a large portion of the North Atlantic Ocean (U.S. waters south of Maryland), a ship-based, line-transect survey was conducted with a 68 m research ship between Maryland (38.00°N) and central Florida (28.00°N) from the 10-m isobath to the boundary of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. The study area (573,000 km 2) was surveyed between 8 July and 17 August 1998. Minimum abundance estimates were based on 4163 km of effort and 217 sightings of at least 13 cetacean species and other taxonomic categories. The most commonly sighted species (number of groups) were bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus (38); sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus (29); Atlantic spotted dolphins, Stenella frontalis (28); and Risso’s dolphins, Grampus griseus (22). The most abundant species (abundance; coefficient of variation) were Atlantic spotted dolphins (14,438; 0.63); bottlenose dolphins (13,085; 0.40); pantropical spotted dolphins, S. attenuata (12,747; 0.56); striped dolphins, S. coeruleoalba (10,225; 0.91); and Risso’s dolphins (9533; 0.50). The abundance estimate for the Clymene dolphin, S. clymene (6086; 0.93), is the fi rst for the U.S. Atlantic Ocean. Sperm whales were the most abundant large whale (1181; 0.51). Abundances for other species or taxonomic categories ranged from 20 to 5109. There were an estimated 77,139 (0.23) cetaceans in the study area. Bottlenose dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins were encountered primarily in continental shelf (<200 m) and continental slope waters (200-2000 m). All other species were generally sighted in oceanic waters (>200 m). The distribution of some species varied north to south. Striped dolphins, Clymene dolphins, and sperm whales were sighted primarily in the northern part of the study area; whereas pantropical spotted dolphins were sighted primarily in the southern portion.
Mullin and Fulling. 2003. Abundance of cetaceans on the southern U.S. north atlantic ocean during summer 1998. Fish Bull 101:603-613
Theme
Abundance
Theme
Atlantic spotted dolphin
Theme
Bottlenose dolphins
Theme
Clymene dolphin
Theme
Grampus griseus
Theme
Risso’s dolphins
Theme
S clymene
Theme
S. coeruleoalba
Theme
S. attenuata
Theme
cetatceans
Theme
distribution
Theme
sperm whales
Theme
striped dolphin
Temporal
1998
Spatial
Atlantic Ocean
Acrobat Portable Document Format
Published
Author
2003
Person
Mullin, Keith D
keith.d.mullin@noaa.gov
3209 Frederic St.
Pascagoula
MS
39568
228-549-1632
228-769-9200
Ground Condition
Range
1998-07-08
1998-08-17
This is when the sampling was done to collect the data used in this article
https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/2003/1013/mullin.pdf
Online Resource
This will display the journal article in .pdf format.
gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:26134
Lee Weinberger
2015-07-28T07:20:42
SysAdmin InPortAdmin
2022-08-09T17:11:11
2021-04-29
Southeast Fisheries Science Center
SEFSC
75 Virginia Beach Drive
Miami
FL
33149
USA
(305)361-5761
www.sefsc.noaa.gov
8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST
1001
Public
No
2021-04-29
1 Year
2022-04-29