Report of the Health Assessment Workshop for North Atlantic Right Whales (Eubalaena glacialis), June 24-26, 2019
September 10, 2020
The primary purpose of this document is to summarize current information on health assessments for North Atlantic right whales and considerations for improving health assessments in the future.
This Technical Memorandum is an outcome of a June 2019 workshop that was held under the auspices of the Working Group on Marine Mammal Mortality Events in response to the ongoing North Atlantic right whale Unusual Mortality Event and the endangered status of the species. A total of 35 participants, including biologists, veterinarians, modelers, managers, and representatives of governmental and nongovernmental agencies, from three different countries (U.S., Canada, and Argentina) attended the workshop. The main goals of the workshop were to: 1) assess current health information data, including associated data gaps, and 2) identify appropriate available and needed tools and techniques for collecting standardized health data that can be used to understand health effects of environmental and human impacts (e.g., entanglement), and inform fecundity and survivorship models to ultimately guide population recovery of North Atlantic right whales.
NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-65