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Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification
Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification
STEPHEN LEATHERWOOD, DAVID K. CALDWELL, and HOWARD E. WINN with special assistance by William E. Schevill and Melba C. Caldwell SEATTLE, WA AUGUST 1976 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock No. 003-020-00119-0 / Catalog No. C 55.13: NMFS CIRC-396...
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PREFACE
PREFACE
In March 1972, the Naval Undersea Center (NUC), San Diego, Calif. in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Tiburon, Calif. published a photographic field guide— The Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises of the Eastern North Pacific. A Guide to Their Identification in the Water , by S. Leatherwood, W.E. Evans, and D.W. Rice (NUC TP 282). This guide was designed to assist the layman in identifying the cetaceans he encountered in that area and was intended for use in two ongoing w
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ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
This field guide is designed to permit observers to identify the cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) they see in the western North Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the coastal waters of the United States and Canada. The animals described are grouped not by scientific relationships but by similarities in appearance in the field. Photographs of the animals in their natural environment are the main aids to identification. A dichotomized key is provided to aid i
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
All whales, dolphins, and porpoises belong to an order or major scientific group called the Cetacea by scientists. They are all mammals (air-breathing animals which have hair in at least some stage of their development, maintain a constant body temperature, bear their young alive, and nurse them for a while) which have undergone extensive changes in body form (anatomy) and function (physiology) to cope with a life spent entirely in the water. The breathing aperture(s), called a blowhole or blowh
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CLASSIFICATION OF CETACEANS
CLASSIFICATION OF CETACEANS
In addition to the two suborders (Mysticeti and Odontoceti), the cetacean order contains numerous families, genera, and species. Each of these groupings represents a progressively more specialized division of the animals into categories on the basis of similarities in their skulls, postcranial skeletons, and external characteristics. The discipline which concerns itself with naming an animal and assigning it to its appropriate scientific category is known as taxonomy. An example of the classific
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DOLPHIN OR PORPOISE
DOLPHIN OR PORPOISE
There is still considerable controversy over the correct usage of the terms dolphin and porpoise. As mentioned in the preceding section, common names of any species may vary from locale to locale and even from individual to individual. Some persons argue for the use of the term porpoise for all small cetaceans. Others insist on the term dolphin. Still others either randomly use the terms or call members of the family Delphinidae dolphins and members of the family Phocoenidae porpoises. The evide
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ORGANIZATION OF THE GUIDE
ORGANIZATION OF THE GUIDE
The differences between baleen and toothed whales are easy enough to see in animals washed up on the beach or maintained in a tank at a zoo or aquarium. But since an animal at sea can seldom be examined that closely, its most obvious characteristics may be its overall size, the presence or absence of a dorsal fin, its prominent coloration or markings, its general behavior, or its swimming, blowing, and diving characteristics. For that reason, regardless of their scientific relationships, all the
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To Identify Animals at Sea
To Identify Animals at Sea
The three major sections of the guide (i.e., large, medium, and small whales) are preceded by a directory to species accounts, which is a summary of the most obvious characteristics of each species and in which summary statements about each characteristic are arranged in parallel order. To use the guide to identify living animals observed at sea, a person or persons should: This guide will probably work best if, in advance of attempting to use the key in the field, the reader will familiarize hi
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To Identify Stranded Animals
To Identify Stranded Animals
Stranded animals can best be identified by referring to Appendix C and its associated tables, making a preliminary determination and then consulting the species accounts in the main body of the book for verification of the identification. As noted in that appendix, if the animal is recently stranded, identification can be made using any of the externally visible characteristics described for the living species at sea. But even if the animal is in an advanced stage of decomposition, it can usuall
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To Record and Report Information
To Record and Report Information
As discussed in the preface, though learning to identify the whales, dolphins, and porpoises one sees may be exciting in itself, many persons may want to participate in the accumulation of data on these interesting animals by routinely reporting their observations to scientists who are actively studying them and who can make immediate use of the information. The following may help these persons: Suggestions for making and recording observations of cetaceans at sea and sample data forms are inclu
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LARGE WHALES (40-85 feet [12-26 m] maximum overall length)
LARGE WHALES (40-85 feet [12-26 m] maximum overall length)
All five species of large whales with a dorsal fin belong to the same major baleen whale group, the balaenopterid whales or rorquals. All are characterized by the presence of a series of ventral grooves, usually visible on stranded specimens and the length and number of which are diagnostic to species. In addition, all species, with the exception of the humpback whale, have at least one distinctive (though often not prominent) ridge along the head from just in front of the blowhole to near the t
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(40-65 feet [12-20 m] maximum overall length)
(40-65 feet [12-20 m] maximum overall length)
There are three species of large whales without a dorsal fin in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Two of these, the bowhead or Greenland whale, and its more widely distributed close relative the right whale, are baleen whales. The third, the sperm whale, is a toothed whale. The first two have relatively smooth backs without even a trace of a dorsal fin. The sperm whale has a humplike low, thick, dorsal ridge, which, from certain views, particularly when the animal is humping up to begin a dive,
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MEDIUM-SIZED WHALES (13-32 feet [4-10 m] maximum overall length)
MEDIUM-SIZED WHALES (13-32 feet [4-10 m] maximum overall length)
There are 11 species of medium-sized whales with a dorsal fin known from the western North Atlantic. These species, taking many diverse forms, range in maximum adult size from about 13 feet (4.0 m) (grampus) to about 33 feet (10.1 m) (the minke whale). This group includes such widely distributed and frequently encountered species as the pilot whales, false killer whales, and minke whales, and such rarely encountered and poorly known species as the various "beaked whales" ( Mesoplodon spp. and th
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(13-16 feet [4-5 m] maximum overall length)
(13-16 feet [4-5 m] maximum overall length)
The only two species of medium-sized cetaceans in the western North Atlantic which have no dorsal fin, the Beluga or white whale and the Narwhal, share such limited common range, well outside the theater of normal boating traffic, that they are generally infrequently encountered. Both species are easily identifiable when seen....
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SMALL WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES (less than 13 feet [4 m] maximum overall length)
SMALL WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES (less than 13 feet [4 m] maximum overall length)
The species in this group are not discussed in order of length; instead the species of the genus Stenella are treated together and then they and other species are placed in near proximity to those animals with which they are likely to be confused in the field....
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Large Whales With a Dorsal Fin
Large Whales With a Dorsal Fin
[9] The letter in parentheses indicates whether the species is a baleen (B) or a toothed (T) whale. Sulphur-bottom. Blue whales are the largest living mammals. Though reports of maximum length and weight vary from one account to another, Antarctic blue whales are known to have reached lengths to 100 feet (30.5 m) and weights of over 150 tons (136,363 kg) [10] before stocks were severely depleted by whaling operations. North Atlantic blue whales may be expected to reach lengths of 80-85 feet (24.
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Large Whales Without a Dorsal Fin
Large Whales Without a Dorsal Fin
Greenland whale, Arctic right whale, great polar whale. Bowhead whales, so-called because of the high-arching jaws and the resultant contour of the head, reach a maximum length of about 65 feet (19.8 m). They are extremely robust in form. When viewed from the side, some swimming bowhead whales show two characteristic curves to the back: the first extends from the tip of the snout to just behind the blowholes; the second, encompassing the entire back, begins just behind the head and extends all t
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Medium-sized Whales With a Dorsal Fin
Medium-sized Whales With a Dorsal Fin
Little piked whale, lesser rorqual, little firmer, sharp-headed finner, grampus (Newfoundland), gibord (Quebec). Minke whales are the smallest baleen whale species in the northern hemisphere, reaching maximum lengths of just over 30 feet (9.1 m). One of the most distinctive features of this species is an extremely narrow, pointed, distinctly triangular rostrum with a single head ridge, similar to but much sharper than that of the fin whale (hence the common name "sharp-headed finner"). Minke wha
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Medium-sized Whales Without a Dorsal Fin
Medium-sized Whales Without a Dorsal Fin
White porpoise, white whale, belukha, sea canary, marsouin blanc (Quebec). Belugas reach a maximum overall length of about 16 feet (4.9 m). Males are slightly larger than females. In the western North Atlantic they have been found to grow to greatest lengths in oceanic environments near the southern extremities of their ranges, though they are found in far greater abundance in estuarine areas of the Arctic. Belugas have extremely robust bodies tapering to a distinct "neck" region and a very smal
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Small Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises With a Dorsal Fin
Small Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises With a Dorsal Fin
Spotter, Gulf Stream spotted dolphin, spotted porpoise, long-snouted dolphin. [11] [11] See also p. 110. The common name "long-snouted dolphin" was once widely used for this species. It is now more frequently used for Stenella longirostris , also known as the spinner dolphin. Atlantic spotted dolphins reach a maximum adult length of 7.5, perhaps 8 feet (2.3 to 2.4 m). They are generally more robust in body shape than the other species of Stenella, closely resembling Atlantic bottlenosed dolphins
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Obviously this guide could not have been produced without the cooperation of many people. Of over 450 individuals and scientific organizations contacted in 14 countries, 255 responded to our letters and well over 100 provided photographs for review and selection. We were particularly pleased that for the majority of the species found in the western North Atlantic our most difficult problem was narrowing the choices and ultimately selecting illustrations from the many good materials made availabl
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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
ANDERSEN, H. T. (editor). 1969. The biology of marine mammals. Academic Press, N.Y., 511 p. BURT, W. H. 1952. A field guide to the mammals. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 200 p. CALDWELL, D. K., and M. C. CALDWELL. 1973. Marine mammals of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. In J. I. Jones, R. E. Ring, M. O. Rinkel, and R. E. Smith (editors), A summary of knowledge of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, p. III-I-1—III-I-23. State Univ. Syst. Fla. Inst. Oceanogr., St. Petersburg, Fla. CALDWELL, D. K., and F. B. GO
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Static Tags
Static Tags
Since their development in the mid-1920's, numerous Discovery marks (small stainless steel projectiles with identifying information stamped on them) have been shot into commercially valuable species by means of a shotgun. The recovery of these marks from whales subsequently killed in the whaling industry has provided valuable information on the movement patterns and on basic aspects of the growth and development of harvested species of whales. Discovery marks are limited, however, because they a
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Radio Transmitter Tags
Radio Transmitter Tags
In recent years, radio transmitter tags have been developed for use on marine mammals. As they continue to become more reliable, these tags are expected to come into more and more widespread use. Early radio tags ( Fig. A7 ) were simple locator beacons which permitted the animal to be tracked by sending a signal to a tracking vessel or aircraft every time the animal surfaced and the antenna tip was exposed. Even these basic packages provide important information on movement, activity patterns, a
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Natural Markings
Natural Markings
In addition to these man-made and applied tags, variations in natural markings and unusual appearances may be used to identify individuals and herds on repeated encounters. Although many species of cetaceans are characterized by changes in color pattern with age, individuals occasionally differ radically in their coloration from their fellows (App. Figs. A9 , A10 ). In addition, individuals are sometimes seen with unusually shaped dorsal fins or scarring patterns (App. Fig. A11 ). These unusuall
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GENERAL INFORMATION
GENERAL INFORMATION
RV Melville (34-foot converted fishing boat) U.S. Department of Commerce NMFS Hydrographic Cruise Miami, Florida to Flamingo, Florida 28-31 January 1973 2 observers (G.E. Lingle and G.M. Mohr) Eye level of observers: 16 feet above water Average ship speed: 8.0 knots during continuous watch Continuous watch information (refer to Fig. B1 ): Cetacean observations (refer to Fig. B1 ):...
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SIGHTING INFORMATION
SIGHTING INFORMATION
[13] If latitude and longitude are not readily available, record best available position, for example 5 hours at 10 knots, SE of Miami. [14] Any oceanographic or bathymetric information obtainable at the time of sighting may be significant. Such measurements as water depth, presence of large fish schools, or deep scattering layer/organisms (DSL) characteristics of the bottom (e.g., flat sand plain, sea mount, submarine cliff), surface temperature, depth of thermocline, and salinity should be inc
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Stranded Animals
Stranded Animals
As we discussed briefly in the introduction to this guide, whales, dolphins, and porpoises sometimes "strand" or "beach" themselves, individually or in entire herds, for a complex of still incompletely understood reasons. Though the reasons suggested for these strandings appear almost as numerous as the strandings themselves, two tenable generalizations have recently been proposed. Strandings of lone individuals usually involve an animal which is sick or injured. Mass strandings, involving from
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Identifying the Animal
Identifying the Animal
Cetaceans may be found during or shortly after the stranding or many months later, when the carcass is bloated or rotted nearly beyond recognition. If the stranded animal is alive or freshly dead, it can be identified by any of the characteristics itemized in the text. But even if it is in an advanced stage of decomposition it can be identified using the key below. In general numbers and descriptions of teeth ( Table 1 ) and numbers and descriptions of baleen plates ( Table 2 ) persist longest a
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KEY TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF STRANDED CETACEANS OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC
KEY TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF STRANDED CETACEANS OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC
NOTE: Immature individuals of the species covered in paragraphs 14 and 15 may not be readily identifiable without museum preparation and examination. NOTE: Characters in paragraph 35 are usable only on fresh specimens. Spotted dolphins in advanced stages of decomposition can be distinguished only with museum preparation and examination. [18] Counts of ventral grooves are made between the flippers and do not include shorter grooves often found on the side of the head and on the side above the fli
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APPENDIX D RECORDING AND REPORTING DATA ON STRANDED CETACEANS
APPENDIX D RECORDING AND REPORTING DATA ON STRANDED CETACEANS
So that measurements of cetaceans taken at different times and at widely divergent locations can be compared, the measurements and the methods of taking them have been standardized, although there is still some disagreement about which of the measurements are most important. The data form located at the end of this guide, usable on both baleen and toothed whales, includes all the measurements routinely taken by cetologists plus a few new ones the authors consider important. The form and the dire
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NOAA TECHNICAL REPORTS National Marine Fisheries Service, Circulars
NOAA TECHNICAL REPORTS National Marine Fisheries Service, Circulars
The major responsibilities of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are to monitor and assess the abundance and geographic distribution of fishery resources, to understand and predict fluctuations in the quantity and distribution of these resources, and to establish levels for optimum use of the resources. NMFS is also charged with the development and implementation of policies for managing national fishing grounds, development and enforcement of domestic fisheries regulations, surveillan
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