Biologically important areas for cetaceans within U.S. waters - Gulf of Mexico region

In this review, we merge existing published and unpublished information along with expert judg-ment to identify and support the delineation of 12 Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) in U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico for Bryde's whales and bottlenose dolphins. BIAs are delineated for small and resident populations to enhance existing information already available to scientists, manag-ers, policymakers, and the public. BIAs ranged in size from approximately 117 to over 23,000 km2. BIAs are intended to provide synthesized infor-mation in a transparent format that can be readily used toward the analyses and planning under U.S. statutes that require the characterization and mini-mization of impacts of anthropogenic activities on marine mammals. BIAs are not intended to repre-sent all important areas for consideration in plan-ning processes; in particular, areas of high marine mammal density, typically identified based on a combination of systematic visual and/or acous-tic detections coupled with quantitative model-ing, are very important to consider, where avail-able, in any assessment. To maintain their utility, Gulf of Mexico BIAs should be re-evaluated and revised, if necessary, as new information becomes available.

Duke Scholars

Author Patrick N. Halpin Marine Science and Conservation