Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales (2024)

Chapter: Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region

Previous Chapter: Appendix C: Commercially and Ecologically Important Fish and Invertebrates Found in the Nantucket Shoals Region
Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27154.

Appendix D

Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region

TABLE D-1 Marine mammals that may occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region

Species Scientific Name Stock Best Rangewide Population Estimate Endangered Species Act Status Occurrence within Offshore Project Area
North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis Western North Atlantic 338 Endangered Common
Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Gulf of Maine 1,396 None Common
Fin whale Balaenoptera physalus Western North Atlantic 6,802 Endangered Common
Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis Nova Scotia 6,292 Endangered Common but less common than other common baleen whales
Minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata Canadian east coast 21,968 None Common
Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus Western North Atlantic Unknown Endangered Rare
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus North Atlantic 4,349 Endangered Uncommon
Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27154.
Species Scientific Name Stock Best Rangewide Population Estimate Endangered Species Act Status Occurrence within Offshore Project Area
Dwarf and Pygmy sperm whale Kogia sima and K. breviceps Western North Atlantic 7,750 None Rare
Cuvier’s beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris Western North Atlantic 5,744 None Rare
Mesoplodont beaked whales (Blainville’s, Gervais’, True’s, Sowerby’s) Mesoplodon spp. Western North Atlantic 10,107 None Rare
Risso’s dolphin Grampus griesus Western North Atlantic 35,215 None Uncommon
Pilot whale, long-finned Globicephalus melas Western North Atlantic 39,215 None Uncommon
Pilot whale, short-finned Globicephalus macrorhynchus Western North Atlantic 28,924 None Rare
White-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus acutus Western North Atlantic 536,016 None Common
Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis Western North Atlantic 172,974 None Common
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis Western North Atlantic 39,921 None Rare
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba Western North Atlantic 67,306 None Rare
Common bottlenose dolphin* Tursiops truncatus Western North Atlantic, offshore 62,851 None Common
Common bottlenose dolphin* Tursiops truncatus Western North Atlantic, northern migratory coastal 6,639 None Rare
Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27154.
Species Scientific Name Stock Best Rangewide Population Estimate Endangered Species Act Status Occurrence within Offshore Project Area
Harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy 95,543 None Common
Harbor seal Phoca vitulina Western North Atlantic 61,336 None Common
Gray seal Halichoerus grypus Western North Atlantic 27,300 None Common
Harp seal Pagophilus groenlandicus Western North Atlantic 7.6M None Uncommon

SOURCE: Hayes et al., 2023.

Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27154.

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Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27154.
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Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27154.
Page 98
Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27154.
Page 99
Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Marine Mammals that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology: An Evaluation from Wind to Whales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27154.
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Next Chapter: Appendix E: Marine Birds that May Occur within the Nantucket Shoals Region
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