Marine Resources Assessment for the Marianas Operating ... - SPREP

AUGUST 2005 FINAL REPORT
Artisanal fishing—fisheries involving skilled but non-industrialized operators; typically a small-scale,
decentralized operation
Ascidians⎯sea squirts; taxonomic class of globular or cylindrical animals that inhabit shallow and deep
water, attach themselves to substrates (rocks, pilings, the bottom of ships, and coral reefs), and may be
solitary or colonial
Assemblage—the populations of various species from a larger taxon characteristically associated with a
particular environment that can be used as an indicator of the environment
Atoll—an organic reef that surrounds a lagoon and is bordered by open sea, often with low sand islands
Audiogram—a hearing sensitivity curve drawn as a function of frequency and sound pressure level;
describes the hearing ability of an animal
Back-arc⎯referring to the region behind the island arc (the concave side of the arc)
Baleen—the interleaved, hard, fibrous plates made of keratin (protein in fingernails and hair) that hang
side by side in rows from the roof of the mouth of mysticete whales; baleen takes the place of teeth and
serves to filter the whale’s food from the water
Bank—a submerged ridge, shoal, sandbar, or other unconsolidated material that rises from the seafloor
to near the water’s surface, sometimes creating a navigational hazard
Barnacles—a collective name for various marine crustaceans of the subclass Cirripedia; the adults form
a hard outer shell and attach to underwater surfaces such as rocks and ships, as well as to certain
whales
Barrier reefs—offshore reefs composed of wave-resistant consolidated limestone (can be 300 to 1,000
m wide and located as far as 100 km offshore). Barrier reefs are separated from the nearshore intertidal
area by a lagoon
Basalt—an inner layer of worldwide extent underlying ocean and granitic continents
Baseline—the line from which maritime boundaries (EEZ, contiguous zone, territorial waters) are
measured; in the U.S., the baseline is the low tide line except at the mouths of inland water bodies (bays)
where a closing line (straight line) is drawn
Basking—an activity performed by pinnipeds and sea turtles while on land in which they expose
themselves to pleasant warmth
Batch spawning—releasing gametes into the sea for external fertilization and development
Bathymetry—the topography of the ocean floor
Bay—a body of water partially enclosed by land, but with a large outlet to the sea or ocean
Beaked whales—members of the Family Ziphiidae, includes the genus Ziphius, Mesoplodon,
Indopacetus, and Berardius
Behavioral audiogram—a graphic representation of an animal’s auditory threshold that is determined by
tests with trained animals; measures the hearing ability of an animal
Benthic—organisms living on or near the ocean floor; the term is used irrespective of whether the sea is
shallow or deep
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