CRD 08-04 Table 5

CRD 08-04

Table 5. Confirmed human-caused mortality and serious injury records of Northwest Atlantic humpback whales, 2002-2006. All records were assumed to involve members of the Gulf of Maine humpback whale stock unless a whale was confirmed to be a member of another stock. This is in contrast to prior reports.

Date^a	Report Type^b	Age, Sex, ID, Length	Location^a	Assigned Cause: P=primary, S=secondary		Notes/Observations
Date^a	Report Type^b	Age, Sex, ID, Length	Location^a	Ship strike	Entang./ Fsh.inter	Notes/Observations
2/08/02	mortality	Juvenile Female 8.4m	off Cape Henry, VA	P		3 large lacerations; hemorrhaging; broken bones
3/24/02	mortality	Juvenile Male 8.0m	off Virginia Beach, VA		P	Deep cuts on caudal peduncle and tail indicative of embedded line; no gear recovered
6/03/02	mortality	age & sex unknown 9.9m	off Cape Elizabeth, ME		P	Deep cuts on caudal peduncle indicative of embedded line; state water lobster fishery
6/17/02	serious injury	age & sex unknown 10.2m (est)	Cape Cod, MA		P	Fluke severely damaged by line; whale emaciated
8/01/02	mortality	Yearling Male 9.3m	Long Island, NY	P		Large hematoma posterior to blow holes
10/01/02	mortality	Calf Female 7.5m	Plymouth, MA		P	Found wrapped in line; extensive bruising; no gear recovered
6/06/03	mortality	Juvenile Female 8.3m	Chesapeake Bay mouth, VA	P		Major trauma to right side of head; hematoma
7/09/03	serious injury	Calf of Shockwave sex unknown	Bay of Fundy, NS		P	Constricting entanglement on a young whale; no gear recovered
7/12/03	serious injury	age & sex unknown	Oregon Inlet, NC		P	Entangled in substantial amount of gear; no gear recovered
8/15/03	mortality	Calf sex unknown 7.3m (est)	Petit Manan Island, ME		P	Floating offshore wrapped in line
8/16/03	serious injury	age & sex unknown	Cape Cod, MA		P	Poor body condition; line deeply embedded; gear recovered included sink gillnet, vessel anchoring system, surface buoy system and endline
8/18/03	serious injury	age & sex unknown	Cape Cod, MA		P	Extensive entanglement; no gear recovered
7/11/04	serious injury	Juvenile sex unknown “Lucky”	Briar Island, NS		P	Entanglement on a young whale
10/03/04	mortality	age unknown Male 15m (est)	Georges Bank		P	Fresh carcass with entangling line and high flyer; no gear recovered
12/19/04	mortality	Calf Female 8.0m	Bethany Beach, DE	P		Hematoma and skeletal fracturing
1/9/06	mortality	Adult Female #8667 14.0m	off Charleston, SC	P		Extensive muscle hemorrhaging; rib fractures; dislocated flipper on left side of animal
3/17/06	mortality	Juvenile Female 10.0m	Virginia Beach, VA	P		Crushed cranium and fractured mandible; hemorrhaging associated with fractures; ventral lacerations consistent with propeller wounds
3/25/06	serious injury	Juvenile sex unknown 8m (est)	Flagler Beach, FL		P	Heavy cyamid load; emaciated; spinal deformity that may or may not have been caused by the entanglement; gear recovered included line and buoys
8/06/06	serious injury	age & sex unknown	Georges Bank		P	Multiple constricting wraps around head; line cutting into upper lip; wraps around both flippers; no gear recovered
8/20/06	mortality	age & sex unknown	East of Cape Cod, MA		P	Whale entangled through mouth continuing back to multiple wraps around peduncle. Resighted 9/6/06
8/23/06	serious injury	age & sex unknown 12m (est)	Great South Channel		P	Flukes necrotic and nearly severed as a result of entanglement; pale skin and emaciated; gear recovered included heavy line and wire trap
10/15/06	mortality	Juvenile Female 10.1m	off Fenwick Island, DE	P	S	Large laceration, penetrating through the bone, across rostrum with accompanying fractures; no gear, but marks around right flipper consistent with entanglement; subdermal hemorrhaging and bone trauma at entanglement point
a. The date sighted and location provided in the table are not necessarily when or where the serious injury or mortality occurred; rather, this information indicates when and where the whale was first reported beached, entangled, or injured. b. National guidelines for determining what constitutes a serious injury have not been finalized. Interim criteria as established by NERO/NMFS (Nelson et al. 2007) have been used here. Some assignments may change as new information becomes available and/or when national standards are established.

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(Modified Jun. 20 2008)