Noise pollution (due to boating, construction, and aircraft passage) could 

 upset the food-finding mechanisms and navigational ability of many cetaceans. 

 Aircraft noise has a documented detrimental effect on seals, causing fright 

 and temporary site desertion (Katona 1977). Offshore oil and gas exploration 

 or pipeline construction could affect cetacean distribution in local areas. 

 These activities generate noise, air and water pollution and physical 

 obstructions. If they are present in areas that are particularly important 

 for feeding, significant disruptions of whale movement or habits could result. 

 Several banks in the Gulf of Maine (Stellwagon Bank, Jeffreys and Columbia 

 Ledges, and Georges Bank) are major feeding grounds for finback whales, 

 humpback whales, right whales and numerous dolphin species. Anticipated OCS 

 oil and gas development activities in the Georges Bank area could affect 

 whales migrating through to Maine waters. It is not known whether these 

 animals or the fish they feed on would simply move to another area or whether 

 population damage would occur. 



IMPORTANCE TO HUMANITY 



Nearly all the historical sources, especially the older ones, mention the 

 great abundance of whales and seals in the Gulf of Maine, so we know that the 

 abundance and role of marine mammals in New England waters must have been much 

 larger in times past than it is today. Whale and seal harvests once provided 

 an important commercial industry and were a focal point in a way of life for 

 coastal New England residents. Excessive harvest of these animals was the 

 major cause of their decline world wide (see "History of Whaling" below). New 

 England and European hunting activities seriously depleted stocks of whales 

 that might have inhabited coastal Maine. With the cessation of whaling 

 activities in the United States and Canada in 1972, marine mammal populations 

 are no longer locally exploited for commercial yield. However, some European 

 countries still hunt populations that may frequent the Gulf of Maine and 

 Canada allows culling of local populations of gray seals (molted pups). 



Marine mammals are also valuable for monitoring levels of pollutants in the 

 marine environment (see "Pollutants" above) . Seals in Maine may compete with 

 people for food and habitat use and are definite hosts for parasitic worms, 

 which infect commercially important fish (see "Habitat Disturbance" and 

 "Disease and Parasites" above). The aesthetic value or wilderness experience 

 of viewing marine mammals in the wild is important to residents and tourists 

 alike. Whale sighting excursions out of a number of coastal towns to the 

 nearshore banks are extremely popular and increasing. 



Marine mammals also provide extensive opportunities for scientific and 

 educational study in natural history, evolution, and population and community 

 ecology. Nearshore coastal Maine and the approaches to the Bay of Fundy are 

 unique in providing access to several species of marine mammals on a regular 

 basis . 



History of Whaling 



"During the 1912 voyage of the 

 whaleship Daisy, Dr. Robert 

 Cashman Murphy, an American 

 Ornithologist, was quoted as 

 saying '...the sounding of this 



13-23 



10-80 



