Composite Training Unit Exercises and Joint Task ... - Govsupport.us

Appendix A Final COMPTUEX/JTFEX EA/OEAreported that Cuvier’s beaked whales occur in deeper waters than Blainville’s beaked whales in theBahamas.The distribution and abundance of beaked whales in the SOCAL Range Complex are not well knownbecause they are difficult to identify; many of the beaked whales that have been sighted have not beenidentified to species. Based on those that were identified, Cuvier’s beaked whale appears to be the mostabundant beaked whale in the area, representing almost 80% of the identified beaked whale sightings(Barlow and Gerrodette 1996). It was sighted only during the cold-water season. Figure A-10 shows allCuvier’s beaked whale sightings in and near the SOCAL Range Complex during the studies summarizedin Section 3.7.1.3. Cuvier’s beaked whales are probably found throughout offshore waters in the SOCALRange Complex.The mean size of 27 groups identified as Cuvier’s beaked whales in the Point Mugu Sea Range was 2.3(U.S. Navy, 1998). The largest group seen was 11 whales.Baird’s Beaked WhaleBaird’s beaked whale (Berardius bairdii) is not listed as endangered under the ESA, and theCalifornia/Oregon/Washington stock is not considered strategic under the MMPA. The minimumpopulation estimate for the California/Oregon/Washington stock is 152 (CV=0.51) individuals (Carrettaet al., 2005).Baird’s beaked whales appear to occur mainly in deep waters over the continental slope, oceanicseamounts, and areas with submarine escarpments (Ohsumi, 1983; Kasuya and Ohsumi, 1984; Willis andBaird, 1998; Kasuya, 2002). They may be seen close to shore where deep water approaches the coast(Jefferson et al., 1993) and in shallow waters in the central Okhotsk Sea (Kasuya 2002).Baird’s beaked whales are infrequently encountered along the continental slope and throughout deepwaters of the eastern North Pacific (Forney et al., 1994; Barlow et al., 1997). Thirteen sightings (42individuals) were made within the Point Mugu Sea Range during recent studies (U.S. Navy, 1998). Nosightings were made during the 1998–1999 NMFS surveys of the SCIRC (Carretta et al., 2000). AllBaird’s beaked whales found in the SOCAL Range Complex are expected to be found in non-territorialwaters.Mesolplodon sppMesoplodonts are difficult to distinguish in the field. They are pelagic, spending most of their time indeep water far from shore, and are little known. Five species of Mesoplodon may occur off the coast ofsouthern California: Blainville’s beaked whale (M. densirostris), Hubb’s beaked whale (M. carlhubbsi),Perrin’s beaked whale (M. perrini), pygmy beaked whale (M. peruvianus), and ginkgo-toothed beakedwhale (M. ginkgodens) (Mead 1981). Until better methods are developed for distinguishing the differentMesoplodon species from one another, the management unit is defined to include all Mesoplodonpopulations. The minimum population estimate of California/Oregon/Washington Stock of mesoplodontbeaked whales is 645 (CV=0.92) individuals (Carretta et al., 2005).Blainville’s beaked whale is the Mesoplodon species with the widest distribution throughout the world(Mead, 1989), although it is generally limited to tropical and warmer temperate waters (Leatherwood andReeves, 1983). Occasional occurrences in cooler higher-latitude waters are presumably related to warmwaterincursions (Reeves et al. 2002). In the North Pacific Ocean, the northernmost documentedoccurrence of this species is a stranding off central California (Reeves et al., 2002). Seasonal movementsor migrations by Blainville’s beaked whales are not known to occur.February 2007 A-30