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

COMPTUEX/JTFEX EA/OEA Final Appendix Athe Southern California Bight (Leatherwood et al., 1987). No killer whales were sighted during the 1998–1999 NMFS surveys of the SCIRC (Carretta et al., 2000). The only sightings in the five Ferguson andBarlow (2001) survey blocks that contain parts of the SOCAL Range Complex were two sightings inBlock 59 and one sighting in Block 72 (Fig. A-3). Relatively few have been sighted in the SOCALRange Complex (Fig. A-19).Short-finned Pilot WhaleThe short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) is not listed under the ESA. However, theCalifornia/Oregon/Washington stock is considered strategic under the MMPA because the averagehuman-caused mortality may not be sustainable (Barlow et al. 1997). A recent calculation of theminimum population size for the California/Oregon/Washington stock is 149 (CV=1.02; Carretta et al.,2005).The range of the short-finned pilot whale in the eastern North Pacific extends from the tropics to the Gulfof Alaska. However, sightings north of Point Conception are uncommon (Forney, 1994). Prior to the1982–1983 El Niño event, short-finned pilot whales were commonly seen off southern California, with anapparently resident population around Santa Catalina Island (Dohl et al., 1981). After the El Niño event,they virtually disappeared from the region, and few sightings were made from 1984 to 1992. The reasonfor the decrease in numbers is unknown (Heyning et al., 1994b), but the El Niño event apparentlydisrupted their distribution pattern, and they have not returned as residents to waters off southernCalifornia (Forney, 1994).No short-finned pilot whales were sighted during the 1998–1999 NMFS surveys of the SCIRC (Carrettaet al., 2000). The only sightings in the five Ferguson and Barlow (2001) survey blocks that contain partsof the SOCAL Range Complex were two sightings in Block 72, which includes the southeast corner ofthe SOCAL Range Complex. The majority of sightings in the SOCAL Range Complex have been in itsnortheast corner (Fig. A-20).Dall’s PorpoiseDall’s porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) is not listed as endangered under the ESA, and theWashington/Oregon/ California Stock is not considered depleted or strategic. No specific data areavailable regarding trends in population size in California or adjacent waters. The best estimate of stocksize for the Washington/Oregon/ California Stock is 75,915 (CV=0.33, Carretta et al., 2005).Dall’s porpoise’s range in the eastern North Pacific extends from Alaska south to Baja California(Morejohn, 1979). It is probably the most abundant small cetacean in the North Pacific Ocean. Itsabundance changes seasonally, probably in relation to water temperature. It is considered to be a coldwaterspecies, and is rarely seen in areas where water temperatures exceed 17°C (Leatherwood et al.,1982). Its distribution shifts southward and nearshore in autumn, especially near the northern ChannelIslands, and northward and offshore in late spring (Dohl et al., 1981; Leatherwood et al., 1987; Barlow etal., 1997; Forney and Barlow, 1998).Although feeding aggregations of up to 200 have been sighted (Leatherwood et al., 1987), recentsightings in and near the Southern California Bight have been of groups averaging 3.1–3.4 (Barlow, 1995;Forney et al., 1995; Carretta et al., 2000). The average size of 401 groups seen within the Point MuguSea Range was 4.2, and the largest group contained 40. During the 1998–1999 NMFS surveys of theSCIRC, the mean size of 8 groups was 3.4 (Carretta et al., 2000).Dall’s porpoise was common in and near the northeast corner of the SOCAL Range Complex in bothwarm- and cold-water periods, but was more often sighted during the latter (Fig. A-21).A-45 February 2007