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

Appendix A Final COMPTUEX/JTFEX EA/OEAjuvenile males are longer than those of juvenile females. Nighttime dive durations of juvenile males andadult females with pups are longer than those of juvenile females and other adult females. As sea ottersare bottom foragers, it is reasonable to assume they reach bottom during these dives. Juvenile males oftenforage farther offshore (4,200 ft [1,280 m]) and in deeper waters (100 ft [30 m]) than do juvenile or adultfemales (Ralls et al., 1995).THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIESSix species of cetaceans occurring in waters of the SOCAL Range Complex are listed as endangered orthreatened: The sperm whale, North Pacific right whale, humpback whale, blue whale, fin whale, and seiwhale are currently listed as endangered species and protected by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16U.S.C. §1531) (Braham 1991) and their stocks are, therefore, considered depleted and strategic under theMMPA. Gray whales were removed from the endangered species list in 1994 because of an increase inpopulation size (Caretta et al. 2004).Figure A-27. Trends in the California Sea Otter Population, 1914-92. From USFWS (1996)The three most common pinniped species found in the SOCAL Range Complex (California sea lion,northern elephant seal, and harbor seal) are not listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA (Barlowet al. 1997). Another three pinniped species are much less common. The Steller sea lion was onceabundant in the northern portion of the SOCAL Range Complex, but numbers have declined rapidly since1938. The Eastern Stock of the Steller sea lion is designated as threatened under the ESA and is,therefore, considered depleted and strategic under the MMPA. The Guadalupe fur seal is listed asthreatened under the ESA and is, therefore, considered depleted and strategic under the MMPA. The stateof California also lists this species as threatened per the Fish and Game Commission California Code ofRegulations (Title 14, Section 670.5, b, 6, H).The southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) is listed as threatened under the ESA and the CaliforniaStock is, therefore, considered depleted under the MMPA. If the restrictions on the use of gill andtrammel nets in areas inhabited by southern sea otters were lifted, the southern sea otter population wouldbe designated as a strategic stock as defined by the MMPA.February 2007 A-60