Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) northwest Atlantic recovery strategy: appendices
Appendices
Appendix 1. Classification of threats by order of priority
Each threat is defined according to these 12 criteria:
Threat category: Broad category indicating the type of threat.
General threat: General activity causing the specific threat.
Specific threat: The specific factor or stimulus causing stress to the population.
Stress: Indicated by an impairment of a demographic, physiological, or behavioural attribute of a population in response to an identified or unidentified threat that results in a reduction of the population viability.
Extent: Indicate whether the threat is widespread, localized, or unknown across the species range.
Occurrence: Indicate whether the threat is historic (contributed to decline but no longer affecting the species), current (affecting the species now), imminent (is expected to affect the species very soon), anticipated (may affect the species in the future), or unknown.
Frequency: Indicate whether the threat is a one-time occurrence, seasonal (either because the species is migratory or the threat only occurs at certain times of the year – indicate which season), continuous (on-going), recurrent (reoccurs from time to time but not on an annual or seasonal basis) or unknown.
Causal certainty: Indicate whether the best available knowledge about the threat and its impact on population viability is high (evidence causally links the threat to stresses on population viability), medium (correlation between the threat and population viability, expert opinion, etc), or low (assumed or plausible threat only).
Severity: Indicate whether the severity of the threat is high (very large population-level effect), moderate, low, or unknown.
Level of concern: Indicate whether managing the threat is an overall high, medium, or low concern for recovery of the species, taking into account all of the above factors.
Local: Indicates threat information relates to a specific site or narrow portion of the range of the species.
Range-wide: Indicates threat information relates to the whole distribution or large portion of the range of the species.
Anthropogenic threats
1) Anthropogenic noise: Acoustic degradation and changes in blue whale behaviour
2) Food availability
3) Contaminants
4) Collisions with vessels
5) Whale-watching
6) Anthropogenic noise: physical damage
7) Accidental entanglement in fishing gear
8) Epizootics and toxic algal blooms
9) Toxic spills
Whaling and natural mortality
10) Whaling
11) Ice
12) Predation
Appendix 2. Cetacean species present in the canadian atlantic
Common name (population) | Scientific name | COSEWIC assessment | COSEWIC designation | SARA status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Atlantic white-sided dolphin | Lagenorhynchus acutus | April 1991 | Not at risk | No status |
Beluga whale (St. Lawrence estuary) | Delphinapterus leucas | May 2004 | Threatened | Threatened |
Beluga whale (Ungava Bay)Footnote a | Delphinapterus leucas | May 2004 | Endangered | No status |
Beluga whale (Eastern Hudson Bay)Footnote a | Delphinapterus leucas | May 2004 | Endangered | No status |
Blainville’s beaked whaleFootnote a | Mesoplodon densirostris | April 1989 | Not at risk | No status |
Blue whale (Atlantic) | Balaenoptera musculus | May 2002 | Endangered | Endangered |
Common dolphinFootnote a | Delphinus delphis | April 1991 | Not at risk | No status |
Cuvier’s beaked whaleFootnote a | Ziphius cavirostris | April 1990 | Not at risk | No status |
Dolphin bottlenoseFootnote a | Tursiops truncatus | April 1993 | Not at risk | No status |
Fin whale (Atlantic) | Balaenoptera physalus | May 2005 | Special concern | Special concern |
Grey whale (Atlantic)Footnote a | Eschrichtius robustus | May 2000 | Extirpated | Extirpated |
Harbour porpoise (Northwest Atlantic) | Phocoena phocoena | April 2006 | Special concern | No status |
Humpback whale (North Atlantic) | Megaptera novaeangliae | May 2003 | Not at risk | No status |
Killer whale (Northwest Atlantic) | Orcinus orca | November 2001 | Data deficient | No status |
Long-finned pilot whale | Globicephala melas | April 1994 | Not at risk | No status |
Minke whale (Atlantic) | Balaenoptera acutorostrata | April 2006 | Not at risk | No status |
North Atlantic right whale | Eubalaena glacialis | May 2003 | Endangered | Endangered |
Northern bottlenose whale (Scotian Shelf population) | Hyperoodon ampullatus | November 2002 | Endangered | Endangered |
Northern bottlenose whale (Davis Strait)Footnote a | Hyperoodon ampullatus | April 1993 | Not at risk | No status |
Pygmy sperm whaleFootnote a | Kogia breviceps | April 1994 | Not at risk | No status |
Sei whale (Atlantic)Footnote a | Balaenoptera borealis | May 2003 | Data deficient | No status |
Sowerby’s beaked whaleFootnote a | Mesoplodon bidens | November 2006 | Special concern | Special concern |
Sperm whale | Physeter macrocephalus | April 1996 | Not at risk | No status |
Striped dolphinFootnote a | Stenella coeruleoalba | April 1993 | Not at risk | No status |
True’s beaked whaleFootnote a | Mesoplodon mirus | April 1989 | Not at risk | No status |
White-beaked dolphin | Lagenorhynchus albirostris | April 1998 | Not at risk | No status |
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