Marine Mammals; Gray Whale Research and Monitoring

Samenvatting

NMFS conducted a review of the status of the Eastern North Pacific stock of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), sometimes referred to as the ``California'' stock, at a workshop held by the National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) in Seattle, Washington, on March 16-17, 1999. Based on the continued growth of this population (rising at 2.5 percent annually; currently at an estimated 26,600 individuals), and the lack of evidence of any imminent threats to the stock, workshop participants agreed to continue this stock's classification as non-threatened. They also concluded that abundance monitoring should continue at some level and that, ideally, research should continue on human impacts to critical habitats. This stock's annual migrations along the highly populated coastline of the western United States and their concentration in limited winter and summer areas may make them particularly vulnerable to impacts from commercial or industrial development or local catastrophic events. The Western North Pacific (``Korean'') gray whale stock has not recovered and should continue to be listed as endangered. This workshop and status review conclude the 5-year assessment of the Eastern North P