The document summarizes information on 10 marine mammal species listed as threatened or endangered on the IUCN Red List. It provides details on population estimates, historical and current threats such as hunting, ship strikes, fishing gear entanglement, and climate change for each species. The species included are: narwhal, beluga, sperm whale, West Indian manatee, hooded seal, fin whale, blue whale, sei whale, North Atlantic right whale.

1. 9. NEAR THREATENED: Narwhal
Monodon monoceros
(Img Cred: Wikimedia, Glenn Williams)

2. 9. NEAR THREATENED: Narwhal
The Narwhal prefers the cold waters of the Arctic, and is found in a limited
geographic region from Central Canada to East Russia. Males have a tusk like
protrusion which is an extension of a tooth in the upper jaw, earning them
the title of the ‘unicorns of the sea’.
Global population estimates place narwhal figures at over 80,000. Their
natural predators include killer whales, polar bears, and occasionally sharks
and walruses while humans hunt them for their skin, tusks, meat and oil.
They are prized for their tusk ivory and skin, a delicacy among Inuits. Today
they are actively hunted in Canada and Greenland. In the eastern Canadian
Arctic, the average reported annual catch was 373 narwhals between 1996
and 2004. Industrial activities and climate change are additional threats that
could affect narwhal numbers.
The European Union (EU) has established an import ban on tusks since
December 2004. Although Denmark belongs to the EU, it is unclear whether
the ban on trade in narwhal ivory between Greenland and Denmark is being
enforced. The species is listed in Appendix II of CITES and CMS Appendix II.

3. 8. NEAR THREATENED: Beluga
Delphinapterus leucas
(Img Cred: Wikimedia, Mike Johnston)

4. 8. NEAR THREATENED: Beluga
The Beluga or White Whale is found in higher latitudes of the Northern
Hemisphere, from Greenland to Svalbard and further east in the Sea of Japan.
They prey on fish like salmon and Arctic cod, and also feed on a wide variety of
mollusks such as squid and octopus and crustaceans like shrimps and crabs. Polar
bears and killer whales are the main predators of belugas throughout their Arctic
range.
While total numbers worldwide are estimated at above 150,000 animals, there
are about 7,900 belugas off the coasts of Greenland and Canada. Belugas are
mainly hunted for human consumption, and since they return to the same
estauries year after year, they are highly vulnerable to hunting. Their main habitat
is the cold Arctic region so climate change is predicted to have an effect on their
numbers.
The Canada-Greenland Joint Commission on the conservation and management of
Narwhal and Beluga recommends catch limits for beluga populations within
member countries. Catch levels from sub populations range anywhere from less
than ten to a few hundred animals per year.
The beluga is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

5. 7. VULNERABLE: Sperm Whale
Physeter macrocephalus
(Img Cred: Wikimedia, NOAA)

6. 7. VULNERABLE: Sperm Whale
A Sperm whale’s head is one-third of its body size and is filled with a
thick waxy fluid, mistaken for sperm by early fishermen. Sperm
whales use the fluid for buoyancy while hunters used it to make
commercial wax-based products like candles and detergents. They
were also targeted for their meat and fat.
Research suggests that sperm whale populations were over a million
before 1880, but dropped to 360,000 (67percent reduction) by the
1990s. Modern whaling was not the only threat to sperm whales. As
sperm whales like to take fish off fishing gear, they get entangled in
gill nets and fishing lines. They are also often shot by hostile
fishermen. Some studies also suggest that sperm whales are highly
sensitive to noise, which can impact their social and reproductive
behavior. What adds to their vulnerability is a very low population
growth rate of one percent per year, which is not enough to recover
depleted populations.
The IWC has taken steps towards conservation by setting catch limits
at zero, though Japan takes 10 sperm whales annually under the IWC
special permit.
The sperm whale is on Appendix I of CITES and Appendices I and II of
CMS.

7. 6. VULNERABLE: West Indian Manatee
Trichechus manatus
(Img Cred: Flickr, Keith Ramos)

8. 6. VULNERABLE: West Indian Manatee
Atlantic manatees are divided into two main population groups- the Florida
manatees and the Antillean manatees. The Florida manatees stick to the
warm waters of the Florida peninsula. From March to November, they travel
along the Atlantic coast to neighboring states, sometimes as far north as New
York. One satellite-tagged manatee was even spotted off of Rhode Island.
Based on surveys and estimates, manatee population figures are placed at less
than 2500 in each of the two sub species. Since manatee calves depend on
their mothers for up to two years after they are born, population figures are
highly dependant on survival of adult manatees. Ship strikes account for 25
percent of all manatee deaths. Newer designs allow boats to travel in shallow
waters at high speeds, threatening manatees and destroying sea grass beds.
The other threats include fishing nets, climate change, exposure to
contaminants, ingestion of debris, and crushing (in flood-control structures, in
canal locks, or between large ships and docks).
To offset these risks, maximum ship speeds have been enforced in areas
where manatees live. Manatee protection devices have also been installed at
flood gates and water control structures to reduce the chances of crushing
manatees in machinery. Florida has established two kinds of protection areas:
Manatee sanctuaries- where all waterborne activities are prohibited, and
manatee refugee areas- where certain activities are prohibited.

9. 5. VULNERABLE: Hooded Seal
Cystophora cristata
(Img Cred: Wikimedia, NOAA)

10. 5. VULNERABLE: Hooded Seal
The hood in Hooded Seals is a large elastic sac in male seals, which
extends from their noses to their foreheads, and can be inflated for mating
displays. For management purposes, Atlantic hooded seal populations are
divided into two groups- The Greenland Sea and the Northwest Atlantic.
Extensive seal hunting in the 19th and 20th centuries is responsible for
their Vulnerable status today. ‘Bluebacks’, or juvenile hooded seals
younger than 14 months, were highly sought after for their valuable blue-
black pelt which they moult at about 16 months.
Regulatory measures were imposed in 1964 which led to a decrease in the
number of seals hunted, though populations have continued to fall.
Hooded seals are often caught accidentally in coastal net fisheries from
the United States, from trawl fisheries off Norway and Newfoundland, and
salmon drift nets used off Greenland. Competition for food with
commercial fisheries and other predators has been suggested as a factor
that limits population growth and leads to declines. As they are pack-ice
breeding species, oil spills and global warming are suspected to have an
influence on their population figures. The Northwest Atlantic population
was estimated at 593,500 in 2005 while the Greenland population was
estimated at 88,300.

11. 4. ENDANGERED: Fin Whale
Balaenoptera physalus
(Img Cred: Flickr, Chris Buelow)

12. 4. ENDANGERED: Fin Whale
The Fin Whale, is a baleen (whalebone for filter-feeding) whale only
second in size to the blue whale. It is known to have a flexible diet of fish
and krill. They live almost everywhere, but prefer cooler waters.
First exploited off the coasts of Norway, Iceland and the British Isles in
1876, they were then targeted off the coasts of Spain, Greenland and
Eastern Canada. In the 20th century industrial whaling recorded a catch of
over 55,000 fin whales in the North Atlantic, 74,000 in the North Pacific
and 725,000 in the southern ocean.
The International Whaling Commission’s moratorium of 1986 to set catch
limits to zero for all whales was rejected by Norway, Iceland and the
Russian Federation. Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006 and
hunted nine fin whales in the same year. A Japanese fleet resumed
“experimental” catches of fin whales in the Antarctic in 2005, taking ten
whales each during 2005-06 and ten more in 2006-07. Fin whales are also
very vulnerable to ship strikes and are occasionally caught in fishing gear.
Fin whales are listed on Appendix I of CITES, but Iceland, Norway and
Japan, hold reservations against this. They are also listed on Appendices I
and II of CMS.

13. 3. ENDANGERED: Blue Whale
Balaenoptera musculus
(Img Cred: Flickr, Mike Baird)

14. 3. ENDANGERED: Blue Whale
With its ability to grow up to 100 feet and weigh up to 150 tons, the Blue
Whale is the largest mammal on the planet. They are found in all oceans
except the Arctic, and are most abundant in the Antarctic Ocean.
Commercial whaling has taken its toll on these mighty mammals, and
research suggests that their total population has been decreased by 70-90
percent in the last three generations. Over 30,000 blue whales were
caught in 1930 alone. Strong measures have been taken for the protection
of blue whales and catch limits for all commercial whaling have been set at
zero by the International Whaling Commission since 1986, however
Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation have objected to this
provision.
No blue whales have been recorded deliberately caught since 1978 though
there have been a few reported cases of ship strikes and entanglements.
The reward of this action is reflected in their increasing population trend -
a rare feature among most endangered marine mammals. Global
estimates put the species around 10,000-25,000.
The species is on Appendix I of both CITES and the CMS.

15. 2. ENDANGERED: Sei Whale
Balaenoptera borealis
(Img Cred: Wikimedia, NOAA)

16. 2. ENDANGERED: Sei Whale
The Sei Whale is often called a ‘cosmopolitan’ species since it migrates
between the tropics in winter and temperate and subpolar waters in
summer. The Sei Whale is a lean 21 percent blubber, compared with the
right whale’s 36-45 percent.
After the decline of right whales and blue whales in the 1960s, whalers
turned their attention to the Sei. Commercial whaling flourished until the
mid 1970s, reducing their populations in oceans around the world. There is
little sign of recovery in the north eastern Atlantic where there has been
only one sighting from 1995-2005 according to Norwegian surveys.
Numbers are more promising in the central Atlantic region, where a 1989
survey reported an estimated 10,300 whales. No such abundance figures
exist for the north west Atlantic where the last survey of their population
size during 1966–69 was estimated at 2,078. The IUCN has estimated that
the current Sei population is around 30,000.
Sei whales have been specifically protected from commercial whaling by the
IWC since 1975 in the North Pacific and 1979 in the southern hemisphere.
This species is included in CITES Appendix I although Iceland has held a
reservation against this listing since 2000.

17. 1. ENDANGERED: North Atlantic Right Whale
Eubalaena glacialis
(Img Cred: Flickr, MyFWC)

18. 1. ENDANGERED: North Atlantic Right Whale
Hunted over the centuries for its oil and baleen, the North Atlantic Right
Whale tops the list for the most endangered species of marine mammal in the
world. American whalers hunted up to a 100 right whales a year off the coast
of New England, before whaling was banned internationally in 1937. Illegal
whaling still continued after the ban. But by then the right whale population
had dipped to an all time low, and they’ve been endangered ever since.
Estimates from the International Whaling Commission state that there are
about 300 right whales off the eastern coast of America. The right whale is
considered extinct in the Northeastern Atlantic ocean with no reported
sightings for several decades. Although right whales are no longer hunted,
their buoyancy makes them vulnerable to ship strikes and fishing nets. Eleven
deaths were reported between 2004 and the end of 2006.
Efforts are being made to conserve whales off the shores of New England by
providing alternative shipping patterns and speed limits. (link to my article).
The Right whale is on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES).