Surveys Confirm Presence of Protected Whales and Dolphins in American Samoa
Research led by a Nicholas School marine biologist is helping document the presence of protected whales and dolphins in the waters of American Samoa, the only U.S. territory in the Southern Hemisphere.
The study, published this winter in the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, confirms the presence of at least 11 species of whales and dolphins in the island group’s waters. The animals are protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, but conservation efforts have been hindered by a lack of scientific data about their diversity, abundance and stock structure.
“Our findings give resource managers some of the essential missing information they need to develop long-term conservation strategies for these protected populations,” said David W. Johnston, a research scientist at the Duke’s Marine Lab in Beaufort, N.C.
American Samoa is located 14 degrees south of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.
