UNIT 24 

 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE ATLANTIC REGION AND THE GULF OF MEXICO 



Sperm whale. 



Species 



Stock area 



Potential 

 Minimum biological 

 population removal 

 estimate level 



(N ,)' (PBRl- 



Annual 



human- ESA' 



caused Strategic MMPA 



mortality^ status" status^' Trend'' 



'N ,^ IS a conservative estimate of abundance used to estimate PBR and provides reasonable assurance ttiat the stock size is equal to or giealer tlian 



the estimate 



■'PBR (potential biological removal) is the maximum number of animals, not including natural mortalities, that may be removed from a stock wtiile allowing 



that stock to reach or stay at its optimum sustainable population level (50-100% of its carrying capacity) 



^Annual human-caused mortality is an estimate of the total number of annual mortalities and serious injuries (likely to result in death) caused by humans 



""Strategic status Y = yes, N = no 



'E = listed as endangered, and T = listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act D = listed as depleted under the Marine Mammal Piotection Act 



^Trend IS increasing (I), stable (S), decreasing (D), or unknown (U) 



'Represents at least 33 individually recognized stocks of bottlenose dolphin m U S Gulf of Mexico bays, sounds, and other estuaries 



"The total level of estimated fishery-related mortality and serious iniury is unknown, but because there is a record of a fishery-related mortality or serious 



iniury and because of the extremely low estimated stock size, this is a strategic stock 



'This species is under the jurisdiction of the U S Fish and Wildlife Sen/ice, and is not included in the stock-status tables of the National Oven/iew 



Table 24-1 



Continued from previous 

 page. 



249 



