Marine Mammals 

 of the Atlantic Region 

 and the Gulf of Mexico 



INTRODUCTION 



The Atlantic region has at least 91 stocks of 

 39 species of marine mammals. The U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service has management authorit)' tor two 

 stocks of the endangered West Indian manatee 

 (Florida and Antillean), and the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service (NMFS) has responsibility lor 

 management of the remaining cetacean and pin- 

 niped stocks. 



According to criteria provided by the 1994 

 Amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act (MMPA) there are 23 strategic stocks (Table 

 24-1). In the western North Atlantic, the strate- 

 gic stocks iiicltide 6 stocks of endangered whales 



(right, humpback, fin, sei, blue, and sperm whales); 

 the coastal bottlenose dolphin which is depleted 

 under the MMPA; and stocks where estimated 

 mortality exceeds their Potential tor Biological 

 Removal (PBR) (dwarf sperm whale, pygmy sperm 

 whale, killer whale, Cuvier's beaked whale, 

 mesoplodont beaked whale, short-finned pilot 

 whale, common dolphin, Atlantic spotted dolphin, 

 pantropical spotted dolphin, and the Gult ot 

 Maine/Bay ot Fundy harbor porpoise). 



In the northern Gult ot Mexico, strategic 

 stocks include the endangered sperm whale, bottle- 

 nose dolphin in coastal bays, sounds and estuar- 

 ies, dwart and pygmy sperm whales, and the 

 Florida and Antillean stocks ot endangered West 



Unit 



24 



STEVE SWARTZ 



NMFS Southeast 

 Fisheries Science Center 



Miami 

 Florida 



DEBRA L PALKA 



GORDON T WARING 



PHIL J CLAPHAM 



NMFS Northeast Fisheries 

 Science Center 



Woods Hole 

 Massachusetts 



Pantropical spotted dolphin. 



247 



