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

AUGUST 2005 FINAL REPORT
Incidental fisheries bycatch—the catch of additional species, such as fishes, turtles, or marine
mammals, that are not targeted by a fishery but are harvested in addition to the target or sought after
species
Indo-Pacific—widespread species with western limit west of the Andamans and eastern limit east of nonmarginal
areas of the Pacific Plate
Indo-Pan Pacific—species found throughout the Indo-Pacific
Indo-West Pacific—widespread species with northeastern limit on the Pacific Plate marginally in the
Carolines, but not reaching the Marshalls
Infauna—organisms that live buried in the soft substrate (sand or mud)
Infrasonic—sound at frequencies too low to be audible to humans, generally below 20 Hz
Inshore—lying close to the shore or coast
Insular—pertaining to or situated on an island
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List—system for classifying species at
high risk of extinction
Inter-nesting interval—the amount of time between successive sea turtle nesting events during the
nesting season
Interpolate—extrapolation to predict values for a parameter between limited data points
Intertidal—the area of shore exposed between high and low tide
Irruptive—entering an area where not characteristically seen
Isobath—bathymetric contour of equal depth; usually shown as a line linking points of the same depth
Isotherm—contour of equal temperature; usually shown as a line linking points of the same temperature
Juvenile—mostly similar in form to adult but not yet sexually mature; a smaller replica of the adult
Karstic—Substrate having the properties of karst (limestone substrate characterized by sinks, ravines,
and subterranean streams)
Kilopascal (kPa)⎯standard unit of pressure in the International System of measurements
Kogia—the genus comprised of the pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) and dwarf sperm whale
(Kogia sima)
Kuroshio—the fast-flowing western boundary current of the North Pacific subtropical gyre
La Niña—when ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific are unusually cold; it is essentially
the opposite of the El Niño phenomenon; La Niña sometimes is referred to as the cold phase of an El
Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event
Lactation—secretion or formation of milk by the mammary glands for the purpose of nursing offspring
Lagoon—a shallow stretch of seawater partly or completely separated from the open ocean by an
elongated, narrow strip of land such as a reef or barrier island
8-13