The Marine Mammal Protection Act formalized a program to provide response to reports of strandings of marine mammals and unusual mortality events. This was done by creating a network of parties from different locations that would be responsible for responding to stranding events within their zone. Most stranding zones in California are defined by county boundaries. Some zones include only one or two counties, but California's largest zone covers 8 coastal counties and includes another 10 where the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta reach inland. Los Angeles county has its coastline divided into two stranding zones, and one of those two zones also has multiple (2) organizations responsible for strandings within it.Stranding reporting areas of the coast of Oregon and Washington and Puget Sound are based upon the authorizations for each facility in their Stranding Agreement (SA) - each SA lists a primary response area granted to the organization, and these lines correspond to that. These zones are often divided more by geographical considerations than by political boundaries, such as island groups or cross-water zones. One zone is the responsibility of two different organizations because each has a different specialty. The Cascade Research Collective is responsible for Cetacean strandings in that area and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations is responsible for pinniped strandings in the same area.A stranding is:• a dead marine mammal on the beach or in the water;• a marine mammal that is alive on the shore and unable to return to the water under its own power;• a marine mammal that is alive on the shore and, although able to return to the water, is in need of apparent medical attention;• a marine mammal in the water and cannot return to its natural habitat under its own power or without assistance.In most stranding cases, the cause of the stranding is unknown, but some identified causes have included disease, parasite infestation, harmful algal blooms, injuries from ship strikes or fishery entanglements, pollution exposure, trauma, and starvation. While most stranded animals are found dead, some strand alive. In a limited number of cases it's possible to transport them to regional rehabilitation centers for care. In rare cases, successfully rehabilitated animals are returned to the wild. With the passage of the Endangered Species Act, in 1973 and the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004, protection of sea turtle species, most of which are endangered or threatened, has resulted in them being added to the list of species which stranding organizations are responsible for.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act formalized a program to provide response to reports of strandings of marine mammals and unusual mortality events. This was done by creating a network of parties from different locations that would be responsible for responding to stranding events within their zone. Most stranding zones in California are defined by county boundaries. Some zones include only one or two counties, but California's largest zone covers 8 coastal counties and includes another 10 where the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta reach inland. Los Angeles county has its coastline divided into two stranding zones, and one of those two zones also has multiple (2) organizations responsible for strandings within it.Stranding reporting areas of the coast of Oregon and Washington and Puget Sound are based upon the authorizations for each facility in their Stranding Agreement (SA) - each SA lists a primary response area granted to the organization, and these lines correspond to that. These zones are often divided more by geographical considerations than by political boundaries, such as island groups or cross-water zones. One zone is the responsibility of two different organizations because each has a different specialty. The Cascade Research Collective is responsible for Cetacean strandings in that area and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations is responsible for pinniped strandings in the same area.A stranding is:• a dead marine mammal on the beach or in the water;• a marine mammal that is alive on the shore and unable to return to the water under its own power;• a marine mammal that is alive on the shore and, although able to return to the water, is in need of apparent medical attention;• a marine mammal in the water and cannot return to its natural habitat under its own power or without assistance.In most stranding cases, the cause of the stranding is unknown, but some identified causes have included disease, parasite infestation, harmful algal blooms, injuries from ship strikes or fishery entanglements, pollution exposure, trauma, and starvation. While most stranded animals are found dead, some strand alive. In a limited number of cases it's possible to transport them to regional rehabilitation centers for care. In rare cases, successfully rehabilitated animals are returned to the wild. With the passage of the Endangered Species Act, in 1973 and the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004, protection of sea turtle species, most of which are endangered or threatened, has resulted in them being added to the list of species which stranding organizations are responsible for.

Critical habitat includes all marine waters within the delineated boundaries. For the inland waters of Washington state (2006 designation), the contiguous shoreline is defined by the line at a depth of 20 feet (6.1 meters) relative to extreme high water. For the coastal marine waters along the U.S. west coast (2021 revision), the contiguous shoreline is defined by the line at a depth of 20 feet (6.1 meters) relative to mean high water. See the final rules (71 FR 69054 and 86 FR 41668) for descriptions of areas excluded from this critical habitat designation. For the inland waters of Washington state (2006 designation), military areas excluded due to national security impacts were not clipped out of the data.For the coastal marine waters along the U.S. west coast (2021 revision), military areas excluded due to national security impacts (i.e., the Quinault Range and its 10 kilometer buffer) were clipped out of the data.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Pacific Northwest Marine Mammal Survey. The Pacific Northwest Marine Mammal Survey is part of the larger West Coast Marine Mammal Surveys started in 2021 and led by NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center. These surveys have a specific focus on small vessel surveys (Class II small vessel, 34-ft LOA) for marine mammals from the western Strait of Juan de Fuca south along the outer coast to Eureka, California. Although focal species vary from year-to-year, surveys have historically prioritized gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), and Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) given the program’s long-term survey efforts for these species. Since 2021, surveys from June through September now represent a substantial increase in both spatial coverage and frequency relative to historical surveys, documenting all opportunistic sightings of marine mammals independent of program priorities. Data are used to derive estimates of species-specific occurrence, density, abundance, and resource utilization. As the length of the time series improves, data will be leveraged to better understand environmental drivers of occurrence, abundance and density, phenology of migration, and the health/condition of individuals and populations.The Pacific Northwest Marine Mammal Survey periodically samples marine mammals along coastal, shelf, and shelf edge ecosystems - out to approximately 20 nautical miles offshore - from northern Washington (including the western Strait of Juan de Fuca) to northern California. Periodic sampling efforts include collection of spatially explicit presence/absence data for all marine mammals, mark-resight observations of individually identifiable large whales (including gray whales, humpback whales, killer whales, blue whales, and fin whales) and Steller sea lions (from branded and tagged animals), boat-based tissue sampling of large whales, boat-based UAS surveys for enumerating pinnipeds at haulouts/rookeries along the PNW coast, and UAS-based photogrammetry for measuring body condition in large whales and pinnipeds.

The National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML), a division of NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center (Seattle, WA) and Cascadia Research Collective (Olympia, WA), conducted aerial and small boat line transects to estimate the abundance of harbor porpoises in waters of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada. This dataset contains line transect survey data with effort (line length) and sighting data (species, group size, distance/angle) and associated covariate data.

The purpose of this project was to obtain data that are pertinent to assessing aspects of the distribution and foraging ecology of pinnipeds inhabiting the California Current. The California Current Ecosystem Program has attached satellite instruments and/or archival time-depth recorders on pinnipeds inhabiting waters off Washington, Oregon, and California to examine their haulout and at-sea spatial distribution, diving behaviors, and movement patterns at varying temporal scales. We aim to integrate telemetry data with aspects of their physiology and diet to assess sex/age-related differences by conspecifics or intra-specific differences among seals, sea lions, or fur seals in the California Current. Locations are calculated and provided by the Argos satellite system (http://www.argos-system.org/). Additional software are required to decode these data. Data are, generally, in the same format as originally delivered from Argos/CLS America and no quality assurance or quality control measures have been implemented.

Critical habitat for the Western DPS of Steller sea lions includes:(a) Alaska rookeries, haulouts, and associated areas. In Alaska, all major Steller sea lion rookeries identified in Table 1 and major haulouts identified in Table 2 and associated terrestrial, air, and aquatic zones. Critical habitat includes a terrestrial zone that extends 3,000 feet (0.9 km) landward from the baseline or base point of each major rookery and major haulout in Alaska. Critical habitat includes an air zone that extends 3,000 feet (0.9 km) above the terrestrial zone of each major rookery and major haulout in Alaska, measured vertically from sea level. Critical habitat includes an aquatic zone that extends 3,000 feet (0.9 km) seaward in State and Federally managed waters from the baseline or basepoint of each major rookery and major haulout in Alaska that is east of 144° W. longitude. Critical habitat includes an aquatic zone that extends 20 nm (37 km) seaward in State and Federally managed waters from the baseline or basepoint of each major rookery and major haulout in Alaska that is west of 144° W. longitude.(b) California and Oregon rookeries and associated areas. In California and Oregon, all major Steller sea lion rookeries identified in Table 1 and associated air and aquatic zones. Critical habitat includes an air zone that extends 3,000 feet (0.9 km) above areas historically occupied by sea lions at each major rookery in California and Oregon, measured vertically from sea level. Critical habitat includes an aquatic zone that extends 3,000 feet (0.9 km) seaward in State and Federally managed waters from the baseline or basepoint of each major rookery in California and Oregon.(c) Three special aquatic foraging areas in Alaska. Three special aquatic foraging areas in Alaska, including the Shelikof Strait area, the Bogoslof area, and the Seguam Pass area.ESA timeline:Steller sea lions were originally listed (55 FR 49204, November 26, 1990) under the ESA throughout their range and critcal habitat was designated in 1993 (58 FR 45269, August 27, 1993). The critical habitat designation was amended (59 FR 30715, June 15, 1994) to correct data errors in Table 2 (Major Steller Sea Lion Haulout sites in Alaska) to Part 226 in the CFR.Steller sea lions were reclassified and listed as 2 DPSs: the Western DPS and Eastern DPS (62 FR 24345, May 5, 1997).The Eastern DPS of Steller sea lions was delisted (78 FR 66140, November 4, 2013). In the delisting final rule, NMFS clarified that the 1993 critical habitat designation remains in effect for the Western DPS of Steller sea lions.

On May 19, 2015, a pipeline owned ruptured in Santa Barbara County, California, near Refugio State Beach. An estimated 21,000 gallons of the oil flowed overland from the break site into the Pacific Ocean and spread across the marine environment. NOAA and our state and federal partners are investigating these impacts and will determine the amount of restoration needed to return the environment to the condition it was in before the spill and to compensate the public for environmental degradation from the time of the spill until recovery. This layer is the GPS track-line of a boat that was used to conduct marine mammal surveys and their possible interaction with oil from the Refugio Beach Oil Spill.

On May 19, 2015, a pipeline owned ruptured in Santa Barbara County, California, near Refugio State Beach. An estimated 21,000 gallons of the oil flowed overland from the break site into the Pacific Ocean and spread across the marine environment. NOAA and our state and federal partners are investigating these impacts and will determine the amount of restoration needed to return the environment to the condition it was in before the spill and to compensate the public for environmental degradation from the time of the spill until recovery.

Data on marine mammal strandings are collected by the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Basic data on the location, species identification, animal condition, and disposition (Level A data) are contributed by network members to the NOAA National Marine Mammal Stranding Database. Data collected since 2001 in the Southeast US and Caribbean are housed in the national database. These data document the occurrence of stranded marine mammals throughout the southeastern United States.