This report details marine mammal stranding rates, trends, and activities in the United States for both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, there were 5,400 confirmed marine mammal strandings; in 2021, there were 5,524.
The Hawaiian monk seal pupping season has started! NOAA Fisheries experts in the Pacific Islands work with partners to protect the pups during this critical time.
In February 2024, NOAA Fisheries and partners responded to a dead spinner dolphin yearling and a dead humpback whale calf in Hawaiʻi. Examinations revealed their deaths were likely due to vessel strikes.
Hawaiian monk seal monitoring and recovery work in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was marked by partnerships, pups, and promise in 2023.
Brenda Becker and Thea Johanos have studied endangered Hawaiian monk seals since the start of NOAA’s field work in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Forty years later, they are as dedicated as ever to the species’ recovery.
