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Table 6. Confirmed human-caused mortality and serious injury records of Western North Atlantic fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), 2004 - 2008
Datea |
Report Type |
Age, Sex, Length |
Locationa |
Assigned Cause: P=primary, S=secondary |
Notes/Observations |
Ship strike |
Entanglement/ Fishery interaction |
2/12/2004 |
serious injury |
age & sex unknown |
Pea Island, NC |
|
P |
Emaciated; no gear recovered |
2/25/2004 |
mortality |
Adult Female 16.3m |
Port Elizabeth, NJ |
P |
|
Displaced vertebrae; ruptured aorta |
6/30/2004 |
mortality |
age & sex unknown 12m (est) |
Georges Bank |
|
P |
Freshly dead; heavy line constricting midsection; no gear recovered |
9/26/2004 |
mortality |
age & sex unknown 15m (est) |
Saint John, NB |
P |
|
Fresh carcass on bow of ship |
3/26/2005 |
mortality |
Adultb Female
16.3m |
off Virginia Beach, VA |
P |
|
Extensive hemorrhaging and vertebral fractures |
4/3/2005 |
mortality |
Adultb Female 18.8m |
Southampton, NY |
P |
|
Subdermal hemorrhaging |
8/23/2005 |
mortality |
Juvenileb Male 13.7m |
Port Elizabeth, NJ |
P |
|
Fresh carcass on bow of ship; extensive hemmorhaging on right side of body |
9/11/2005 |
mortality |
Juvenileb Male 11.0m |
Bonne-Esperance, QC |
P |
|
Bottom jaw completely severed/broken |
09/13/05c |
mortality |
age & sex unknown |
Blanc Sablon, NL |
P |
|
Lower jaw broken associated with massive areas of bruising |
9/17/2006 |
serious injury |
age & sex unknown 18m (est) |
off Mt. Desert Rock, ME |
|
P |
Pale skin overall; cyamid load at point of attachment; emaciated; no gear recovered |
3/25/2007 |
mortality |
age unknown Female 18.0m |
Norfolk, VA |
P |
|
Extensive fracturing of ribs, skull, and vertebrae w/ associated hemorrhage & edema |
5/24/2007 |
mortality |
age unknown Male |
Newark Bay, NJ |
P |
|
Hemorrhage (epaxial muscle, diaphragm, pleural lining) and multiple fractures of the ribs, vertebrae, & sternum and the trailing tissue of the animal was marked by propeller cuts |
6/25/2007 |
serious injury |
age & sex unknown |
Great South Channel |
|
P |
Wrap on tail assoc w/ cyamid load; flippers & mouth involved; extremely emaciated; lethargic; no gear recovered |
8/11/2007 |
mortality |
age & sex unknown |
Cabot Strait, NS |
|
P |
Constricting wrap around body, between the head and flippers; no gear recovered |
9/26/2007 |
mortality |
Juvenile Male 13m (est) |
off Martha’s Vineyard, MA |
|
P |
Freshly dead, scavenged carcass with gear present; evidence of multiple body wraps with associated hemorrhaging; no gear recovered |
7/2/2008 |
mortality |
age unknown Male 14.8m |
Barnegat Inlet, NJ |
P |
|
Vertebral fractures with associated hemorrhaging; hemorrhaging around ball joint of right flipper |
aThe date sighted and location provided in the table are not necessarily when or where the serious injury or mortality occurred; rather, this information indicates when and where the whale was first reported beached, entangled, or injured.
bThe gender and length were misreported in the 2006 Stock Assessment Report. This table shows the correct values.
cAdditional record which was not included in previous reports.
|