MARINE MAMMALS Marine mammals are among the most iconic marine species in the North Pacific, and the world. They include whales (cetaceans), some species of which filter-feed directly on zooplankton and small fishes whereas other species feed high in the food web (e.g. killer whales), and seals/sea lions (pinnipeds), which tend to be high in the food web and feed on fish. We do not expect to find new marine mammal species in the North Pacific, although the existing species vary greatly in their abundances. Determining how many individuals there are of a particular species is difficult for whales, considering their wide-ranging open ocean lifestyle, but somewhat easier for pinnipeds as many species spend time on rookeries where they reproduce.
PICES sub-region
Code
Area (km2)
Eastern Bering Sea Shelf
BSC 1,021,950
22
7
32
Western Bering Sea and Basin Gulf of Alaska
BSP 1,357,655
20
6
30
ASK
428,520
18
5
28
Insufficient data
California Current, North
CAN
166,456
16
4
25
Insufficient data
Eastern Sub-Arctic
ESA 3,621,580
13
0
0
Insufficient data
Western Sub-Arctic WSA 2,168,315
14
1
7
2,323
Kamchatka and Kurile Islands
KM/KL 111,570
19
7
37
3,724,341
Sea of Okhotsk
OKH 1,599,225
19
11
58
1,178,269
California Current, South Eastern Transition Zone
CAS
128,620
30
17
57
Insufficient data
ETZ 7,808,530
27
6
22
Insufficient data
Western Transition WTZ 6,337,700 Zone Kuroshio/Oyashio KR/OY 348,455 Current Zone
27
11
41
4,619,545
33
6
18
114,513 3,500
Number of Number of marine % Estimated marine mammal species species abundance of mammal with abundance covered marine mammals species estimates (number)
Sea of Japan
SJP
1,006,455
16
2
13
East China Sea
ECS
435,235
14
0
0
TOTAL
Insufficient data 494,000
Insufficient data 10,136,491
Marine mammal abundance in PICES marine ecosystems Species Steller sea lion Northern fur seal Harbor seal Spotted seal Bearded seal Ringed seal Ribbon seal Walrus Polar bear Sea otter Beluga whale: E. Bering Sea & Bristol Bay Beluga whale: Beaufort and Chuckchi Killer whale Pac.white-sided dolphin Harbor porpoise Dalls porpoise Gray whale Humpback whale Fin whale Minke whale Northern right whale Bowhead whale Blue whale Dall's porpoise Sei whale Sperm whale Ziphiids Northern elephant seal Beluga whale Pacific white-sided dolphin Baird=s beaked whale Cuvier=s beaked whale Pac. white-sided dolphin Cuvier’s beaked whale
BSC 9930 1002500 13300 ? ? ? ? 46100 0 ? 18800 0 ? ? 10900 ? 25235 ? ? ? ? 0
BSP 1500 200000 ? 13000 180000 86500 13000
ASK 39800 ? 66600
?
?
?
?
?
1078
?
18800 ? 100 ? ? ? ?
10301 ? 150 ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
CAN 13800 ?
ESA ?
WSA ? ?
KM/KL 5100 45000 3400
OKH 1500 56000
CAS 9350 ? 75200
ETZ
WTZ
?
190000
KR/OY ? ?
?
?
130000 200000 86500 130000
?
?
?
?
843
?
?
?
47661 169350 150 597 ? 201
? ? 597 ?
1785
1785
? ?
? ?
?
?
? ? ? ? ?
?
?
?
? 834 ? ? ?
?
? ? ? ?
? ?
2539
? ? ?
? ? ? 5841 ?
? ? ? 2,323+ ?
? (1925000)1 554000 ? ? ? ?
?
