. . . National overview: status and 

 Potential of U.S. Living Marine Resources 



14 



MARINE MAMMALS 

 AND SEA TURTLES 



The MMPA and ESA require regular status 

 updates for marine mammal and sea turtle 

 populations. The current state of our 

 knowledge only allows 18 stocks to be 



assigned abundance trend estimates 

 (Table 2). The rest are of unknown status 

 (particularly the Pacific dolphin stocks). 



Marine Mammals 



Thirty-six species of marine mammals 

 (Unit 22) range the western North Atlantic 

 Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, including 34 

 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises, 

 and two seal species. Abundance esti- 

 mates are known for 9 species (Table 2). 

 Of these, 3 found off the east coast are 

 listed as endangered under ESA; of these, 

 the Atlantic right whales are critically de- 

 pleted and their long-term survival is in 



doubt. There is also serious concern about 

 Mid-Atlantic coastal bottlenose dolphins 

 and harbor porpoise. There are far too few 

 data on other species, such as blue, fin, and 

 pilot whales, to judge the current health of 

 individual stocks. 



Forty-two marine mammal species (Unit 

 23) occur in U.S. waters of the eastern 

 North Pacific Ocean and eastern tropical 

 Pacific, including 31 species of whales, 



Table 2.— Status and trends of Unit and 



marine mammals and sea turtles. Species 



22. Atlantic marine mammals 



23. Pacific marine mammals 



24. Sea turtles 

 Total 



Percent of total 



51% 



22% 



22% 



5% 



'E ■ Endangered. T = Threatened, D = Depleted 



California sea lions at rest in 

 Elliott Bay, Seattle, Wash. 



