Injury Determinations for Humpback Whales and Other Cetaceans Reported to NOAA Response Networks in the Hawaiian Islands During 2019

Reports of injured and dead cetaceans in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone around the Hawaiian Islands (Hawaiian EEZ) are received each year by the Pacific Islands Region Marine Mammal Response Network (PIR-MMRN), which is coordinated by the NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO), and the

Hawaiian Islands Entanglement Response Network (HIERN), which is coordinated by the NOAA Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Most of the injury reports involve humpback whales that are entangled in fishing gear or marine debris or have been struck by or otherwise injured by contact with a vessel. However, occasionally, reports of other cetacean species are received.

This data report provides a summary of the determinations of injury severity for cetaceans in the Hawaiian EEZ reported injured by human causes to PIR-MMRN and HIERN during 2019. These determinations are based on injury reports that are opportunistic and not a part of a quantifiable and directed sampling scheme. Thus, the resulting determinations of serious injury1 (or any reported mortalities) cannot be used to estimate undocumented mortality and serious injury (M&SI) from the same source. However, these serious injuries and mortalities can serve as minimum estimates of M&SI by source and should be included in the stock assessment reports (SARs) required by the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act

Bradford, A.L. and E.G. Lyman. 2022. Injury Determinations for Humpback Whales and Other Cetaceans Reported to NOAA Response Networks in the Hawaiian Islands During 2019. PIFSC data report DR-22-018. 5 pp.

DOI : https://doi.org/10.25923/q69y-qz49