Ship-based and aerial surveys are critical to achieving NOAA Fisheries marine mammal and sea turtle population assessment goals.
Ship-based and aerial surveys are critical to achieving NOAA Fisheries marine mammal and sea turtle population assessment goals, which include abundance estimation and examination of trends and human impacts relative to management objectives. A limited number of marine mammal and sea turtle-focused surveys are conducted and managed by our six Science Centers. These often involve more than one center, as well as internal and external collaborators. The number of protected species surveys conducted each year is dependent on funding and available ship time allocated at the national level.
Recent marine mammal-related surveys conducted and/or participated in by NOAA Fisheries:
For more information on surveys in which NOAA Fisheries participates, see:
The Pacific leatherback sea turtles have existed in their current form without scales and a hard shell since the age of the dinosaurs, but threats from bycatch, egg harvesting, and degradation of nesting habit have made this species endangered. Photo credit: Jason Isley, Scubazoo.
An immature green sea turtle swims above a coral reef at Baker Island in the Pacific Island Remote Area. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.
