NMFS Biological Opinion on U.S. Navy training ... - Govsupport.us

FINAL PROGRAMMATIC BIOLOGICAL OPINION ON U.S. NAVY ACTIVITIES IN THE HAWAII RANGE COMPLEX 2008-2013
surveys conducted in the Hawai’ian Islands in 2002, Rankin and Barlow (2007) recorded 107 sei whale
vocalizations, which they classified as two variations of low-frequency downswept calls. The first variation
consisted of sweeps from 100 Hz to 44 Hz, over 1.0 seconds. The second variation, which was more common (105
out of 107) consisted of low frequency calls which swept from 39 Hz to 21 Hz over 1.3 seconds. These vocalization
are different from sounds attributed to sei whales in the Atlantic and Southern Oceans but are similar to sounds that
had previously been attributed to fin whales in Hawai’ian waters.
A general description of the anatomy of the ear for cetaceans is provided in the preceding description of the fin
whale.
3.3.4 Sperm Whale
Distribution
Sperm whales occur in every ocean except the Arctic Ocean. Sperm whales are found throughout the North Pacific
and are distributed broadly from tropical and temperate waters to the Bering Sea as far north as Cape Navarin.
Mature, female, and immature sperm whales of both sexes are found in more temperate and tropical waters from the
equator to around 45˚ N throughout the year. These groups of adult females and immature sperm whales are rarely
found at latitudes higher than 50˚ N and 50˚ S (Reeves and Whitehead 1997). Sexually mature males join these
groups throughout the winter. During the summer, mature male sperm whales are thought to move north into the
Aleutian Islands, Gulf of Alaska, and the Bering Sea.
In the western Atlantic Ocean, sperm whales are distributed in a distinct seasonal cycle, concentrated east-northeast
of Cape Hatteras in winter and shifting northward in spring when whales are found throughout the Mid-Atlantic
Bight. Distribution extends further northward to areas north of Georges Bank and the Northeast Channel region in
summer and then south of New England in fall, back to the Mid-Atlantic Bight.
In the eastern Atlantic Ocean, mature male sperm whales have been recorded as far north as Spitsbergen (Oien,
1990). Recent observations of sperm whales and stranding events involving sperm whales from the eastern North
Atlantic suggest that solitary and paired mature male sperm whales predominantly occur in waters off Iceland, the
Faroe Islands, and the Norwegian Sea (Gunnlaugsson and Sigurjonsson 1990, Oien 1990, Christensen et al. 1992).
In the Mediterranean Sea sperm whales are found from the Alboran Sea to the Levant Basin, mostly over steep slope
and deep offshore waters. Sperm whales are rarely sighted in the Sicilian Channel, and are vagrant in the northern
Adriatic and Aegean Seas (Notarbartolo di Sciara and Demma 1997). In the Italian seas sperm whales are more
frequently associated with the continental slope off western Liguria, western Sardinia, northern and eastern Sicily,
and both coasts of Calabria.
Sperm whales are found throughout the North Pacific and are distributed broadly from tropical and temperate waters
to the Bering Sea as far north as Cape Navarin. Mature female and immature sperm whales of both sexes are found
in more temperate and tropical waters from the equator to around 45°N throughout the year. However, groups of
adult females and immature sperm whales are rarely found at latitudes higher than 50°N and 50°S (Reeves and
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