Chapter I Intro & Objectives - SPREP

PHOENIX ISLANDS PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN
Chapter III. Background, 4. Marine Resources
Draft 1 March 2007
There are several marine mammals that transit or live within the waters of the central Pacific
Ocean, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) area (Reeves et al
1999). The SPREP area included the Phoenix Islands. Marine mammals that transit or live
within these waters include:
1) Bryde’s whale, Balaenoptera edeni;
2) Sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus;
3) Pygmy sperm whale, Kogia breviceps;
4) Dwarf sperm whale, Kogia simus;
5) Short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus;
6) Killer whale, Orcinus orca;
7) False killer whale, Pseudorca crassidens;
8) Melon-headed whale, Peponocephala electra;
9) Pygmy killer whale, Feresa attenuata;
10) Risso’s dolphin, Grampus griseus;
11) Bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus;
12) Striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba;
13) Pan-tropical spotted dolphin, Stenella attenuata;
14) Spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostri;
15) Fraser’s dolphin, Lagenodelphis hosei;
16) Rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis;
17) Southern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon planifrons;
18) Cuvier’s beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris; and
19) Other beaked whales, Mesoplodon spp.
Whales were once abundant in the central Pacific. Lever (1964) noted that in the late 1700’
and early 1800’s, the East India Company limited British whaling activities in the Pacific.
This allowed the American whaling fleet to flourish in the Pacific. By 1846, there were at
least 730 vessels in this trade (735 vessels in 1846 according to Townsend 1935).
Townsend (1935) summarized whale takes based on American whaleship logbooks for the
period 1800 to 1870 (see Figure III-4.8 below; see also Boggs 1938). If landing sites relate to
areas of high density, then whale stocks were probably also distributed along the equator.
Figure III-4.8. Sperm whales* taken by American whaleships primarily from
1800 to 1870 based on logbooks: A – April to September; B – October to March
(source: Townsend 1935).
A – April to September
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