RESEARCH & REPORTS
MARS is committed to unlocking the transformational power of scientific research. Our research aims to generate evidence that directly improves the heath of marine animals and ocean ecosystems, while also influencing policy and practice. The studies we lead and participate in give rise to solutions that are scalable and transferrable to settings where marine animals face challenges around the world.
FEATURED RESEARCH
BEYOND THE NUMBERS:
A 15-Year Retrospective of Cetacean Incidents in Eastern Canada
Wimmer, T and C. Maclean. 2021. Beyond the Numbers: a 15-year Retrospective of Cetacean Incidents in Eastern Canada. Produced by the Marine Animal Response Society. 69pp.
SUMMARY
Cetaceans are important for ocean ecosystems and overall global climate. According to International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessments, 35% of cetaceans fall into threatened categories. While large-scale commercial whaling ceased in the late 1980s, human-induced pressures still exist. Fishing, vessel traffic, pollution, plastics and noise pollution impact hundreds of thousands of cetaceans every year. Sadly, cetaceans in Canada are not exempt from these impacts, with over 40% of the species in Canadian waters classified as at-risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
A wide range of information is required for the recovery and protection of cetacean populations. For decades, marine animal response organizations and networks have been providing these data by investigating incidents involving dead and distressed cetaceans.
This report examined opportunistic data collected from reported cetacean incidents between 2004 and 2019 by the three marine animal incident reporting hotlines in Eastern Canada (Réseau Québécois d’urgences pour les mammifères marins, RQUMM, in Quebec; Whale Release and Strandings in Newfoundland & Labrador; and the Marine Animal Response Society, MARS, in the Maritime Provinces). This included incidents involving dead animals (carcasses) as well as live animals (entanglements, entrapments, strandings, vagrants and sick/injured). Incidents involving sightings of healthy free-swimming animals or reports of harassment were not included.
For Media Kit, click HERE.
Between 2004 and 2019, there were 3,136 cetacean incidents reported to Eastern Canadian response hotlines.
44% of all reported incidents in Eastern Canada involved an at-risk cetacean species.
Proportion of incidents involving cetacean families of the total dead or live-distressed incidents reported.
Dead animals represent 70% of all cetacean incidents in Eastern Canada. For 93% of these, the cause of death is unknown as many animals could not be examined.
Overall, the key findings of this report were:
• 25 cetacean species were documented over the timeseries, with humpback and minke whales representing 76% of all reported mysticete incidents (27% of total incidents) and harbour porpoise and beluga whales representing 65% of all reported odontocete incidents (36% of total incidents).
• At-risk cetacean species were involved in 44% of all reported cetacean incidents (primarily harbour porpoises, beluga whales and fin whales). North Atlantic right whales (the primary focus of government initiatives and research in Eastern Canada) comprised only 6% of all reported mysticete incidents (only 2% of total incidents).
• The Gulf of St. Lawrence is an area of great concern with 47% of all of the reported mysticete incidents between 2004 and 2019. Contrary to the primary species of government focus, 93% of mysticete incidents in the Gulf of St. Lawrence involved species other than North Atlantic right whales. Of these, minke whales were the most common mysticete reported every year (54%), followed by humpback (16%) and fin whales (13%). Blue and right whales were a lower percentage of incidents (4% and 7%, respectively).
• Overall, Cause of Death (CoD) was reported to have been determined for 7% of animals where the species was identified. Despite this low overall number, CoD was determined for 52% of cases involving North Atlantic right whales which only comprised 1.6% of identified carcasses. In contrast, CoD was determined for only 0 to 19% of the carcasses for all of the other 24 documented species.
• Entanglements were the most predominant determined CoD (46%) with disease or emaciation and vessel strikes comprising most of the remaining incidents (22% and 15%, respectively).
• Signs of Human Interaction (HI) were reported in 23% of total reported cetacean incidents. Unfortunately, in 49% of cases it was not clear if signs of HI were looked for or not.
• When HI was present, it was primarily fishing-related (60.6%), unknown entanglements (28.3%) or vessel strikes (7.4%).
• Dead animals (i.e. carcasses) consistently make up the majority of reported incidents (69% throughout entire time series). Despite this, there is limited capacity and support to examine carcasses, especially dead cetaceans reported floating at sea.
• Cause of Death was not determined for 94% of incidents where the animal was reported as dead, or which had been alive and later died.
• In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, mysticete floaters represent 47% of reported incidents, but only 8% of these were retrieved for necropsy, and 93% of those were right whales. Only 1 non-right whale species (a minke) was brought to shore and later necropsied.
• Over the time series, reported incidents of both dead and live-distressed cetaceans increased (incidents of dead cetaceans consistently exceeded those of live incidents throughout time series).
• In 15 years, it is projected that reported incidents will increase by an additional 144 reports annually (115 dead and 29 live).
GO BEYOND THE NUMBERS
This supplemental information to Beyond the Numbers: A 15-Year Retrospective of Cetacean Incidents in Eastern Canada provides a detailed look into the individual cetacean families involved in incidents.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE
Continuing to ignore what is happening to species in Canadian waters does not stop threats nor species declines from happening.
Future generations should be provided every opportunity to see for themselves the beauty of these animals. It is our responsibility to protect these species from human threats and ensure our activities do not reduce their quality of life. Our actions today will dictate how we will be remembered.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE
Continuing to ignore what is happening to species in Canadian waters does not stop threats nor species declines from happening.
Future generations should be provided every opportunity to see for themselves the beauty of these animals. It is our responsibility to protect these species from human threats and ensure our activities do not reduce their quality of life. Our actions today will dictate how we will be remembered.
This report would not have been possible without funding from WWF-Canada / CSL Group, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, The Ocean Foundation and the Marine Animal Response Society.
RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS
MARS actively contributes and seeks to collaborate on ongoing research projects.
To request marine animal samples from ongoing response efforts:
For more information about data requests, sample collection and other areas of interest, please email mars@marineanimals.ca
DIVE DEEPER
PUBLICATIONS
2025. Solway, H., B. Worm, T. Wimmer and D. Tittensor. Plos One 20(1): e0315909. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315909
A review of beaked whale (Ziphiidae) stranding incidents from the inshore waters of eastern Canada.
2023. McAlpine, D. F., T. Wimmer, W. Ledwell, P-Y. Daoust, L. Bourque, J. W. Lawson, W. Bachara, Z. N. Lucas, G.A. Reid, S. Lair, A. François and R. Michaud. Canadian Field Naturalist 137(3): 201–231. https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v137i3.2967
2023. Forbes, R., B. Nakamoto, N. Lysiak, T. Wimmer and B. Hayden. Marine Ecology Progress Series 722: 177-193. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14428
2023. A.G. Henry, M. Garron, D. Morin, A. Smith, A. Reid, W. Ledwell and T. Cole. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 23-09; 63 p.
2022. A.G. Henry, A. Smith, M. Garron, D. Morin, A. Reid, W. Ledwell and T. Cole. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 22-13; 61 p.
2022. A.G. Henry, A. Smith, M. Garron, D. Morin, A. Reid, W. Ledwell and T. Cole. US Dept Commer, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-280; 65 p.
Osseous Anomalies in a Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
2022. Daoust, P-Y., P. Arsenault, A. Ortenburger, D.F. McAlpine, G.A. Reid and T. Wimmer.. Aquatic Mammals 48(1): 83-91.
BEYOND THE NUMBERS: A 15-Year Retrospective of Cetacean Incidents in Eastern Canada
2021. Wimmer, T and C. Maclean. 2021. Beyond the Numbers: a 15-year Retrospective of Cetacean Incidents in Eastern Canada. Produced by the Marine Animal Response Society. 69pp.
2021. A.G. Henry, M. Garron, D. Morin, A. Smith, A. Reid, W. Ledwell and T. Cole. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 21-07; 62 p.
2020. AG Henry, M Garron, D Morin, A Reid, W Ledwell, TVN Cole. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 20-06; 53 p.
Incident Report: North Atlantic Right Whale Mortality Event in Eastern Canada, 2019.
2020. Bourque, L., Wimmer, T., Lair, S., Jones, M., Daoust, P.-Y. Incident Report: North Atlantic Right Whale Mortality Event in Eastern Canada, 2019. Collaborative Report Produced by: Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative and Marine Animal Response Society. 209 pp.
2019. Sharp, S.M, W.A. McLellan, D.S. Rotstein, A.M. Costidis, S.G. Barco, T. Pitchford, K. Jackson, P-Y. Daoust, T. Wimmer, E.L. Couture, L. Bourque, T. Frasier, B. Frasier, D.Fauquier, T.K. Rowles, P.K. Hamilton, H. Pettis and M.J. Moore. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 135(1): 1-31.
2019. A.G. Henry, M. Garron, D. Morin, A. Smith, A. Reid, W. Ledwell and T. Cole. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 21-07; 62 p.
Incident Report: North Atlantic Right Whale Mortality Event in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 2017
2017. Daoust, P.-Y., Couture, E.L., Wimmer, T., and Bourque, L. Collaborative Report Produced by: Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, Marine Animal Response Society, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 256 pp.
A timely opportunity to protect North Atlantic right whales in Canada
2017. Brillant, S.W., Wimmer, T., Rangeley, R.W. and Taggart, C.T. Marine Policy 81: 160-166.
2017. Henry, A.G., Cole, T.V.N., Garron, M., Ledwell, W., Morin, D., Reid, A. 2017. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 17-19; 57p.
Errata: Erratum to “Vessel Strikes to Large Whales Before and After the 2008 Ship Strike Rule”
2016. Volume 9, Issue 3, 236.
Serious injury and mortality determinations for baleen whale stocks along the Gulf of Mexico, United States East Coast and Atlantic Canadian Provinces, 2010-2014
2016. Henry, A.G., Cole, T.V.N., Hall, L., Ledwell, W., Morin, D., Reid, A. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 16-10; 51 p.
2015. Henry, A.G., Cole, T.V.N., Hall, L., Ledwell, W., Morin, D., and Reid, A. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 15-10; 45p.
2015. Henry, A.G., Cole, T.V.N., Hall, L., Ledwell, W., Morin, D., and Reid, A. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 15-10; 45p.
Vessel strikes to large whales before and after the 2008 Ship Strike Rule
2014. van der Hoop, J. M., Vanderlaan, A. S. M. , Cole, T. V. N., Henry, A. G., Hall, L., Mase-Guthrie, B., Wimmer, T. and Moore, M.J. Conservation Letters. doi: 10.111/conl.12105.
2014. Henry A.G., Cole, T.V.N., Hall, L., Ledwell, W., Morin, D., Reid, A. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 14-10; 17 p.
2013. Henry, A.G., Cole, T.V.N., Hall, L., Ledwell, W., Morin, D. and Reid, A. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 13-18; 15 p.
Assessment of management to mitigate anthropogenic effects on large whales. Conservation Biology
2012. van der Hoop, J., Moore, M.J., Barco. S.G., Cole, T., Daoust, P-Y, Henry, A., McAlpine, D.F., McLellan, W.A., Wimmer, T., Solow, A.R. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01934.
2012. AG Henry, TVN Cole, M Garron, L Hall, W Ledwell, and A Reid. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 12-11; 24 p.
Cetacean strandings in the Canadian Maritime provinces, 1990–2008
2010. Nemiroff, L., Wimmer, T., Daoust, P-Y., McAlpine, D.F. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 124(1), pp32–44.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2024 Right Whales by the Numbers, Canadian Wildlife Federation, North Atlantic Right Whale Stakeholder Workshop
2023 Whale CSI: Helping whales tell their tales, Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture
2024 Marine Species at Risk in the Maritimes, Unama’ki Institute. of Natural Resources
2023 Right Whales by the Numbers, Canadian Wildlife Federation, North Atlantic Right Whale Stakeholder Workshop
2023 Whale CSI: Helping whales tell their tales, Maritime Museum
2023 Whale Conservation: From Incident Response to Recovery, Dalhousie University
2022 NARW Recovery and Necropsy Logistics, NOAA North Atlantic Right Whale Transboundary Necropsy Workshop (Wimmer, T. and S. Sharp)
2022 Whale Incidents in Atlantic Canada, Canadian Wildlife Federation, North Atlantic Right Whale Stakeholder Workshop
2022 North Atlantic Right Whales: The Road to Recovery, Sierra Club Canada Foundation
2021 Declining Health of Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, WWF-International
2021 Impacts from Active, Abandoned, Lost or Discarded Gear on Marine Mammals, Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq
2020 Marine Animal Emergencies, Canadian Wildlife Federation, Facebook Live Event
2020 Marine Animal Response and Necropsy Q&A, Ocean Tracking Network & Canadian Wildlife Federation, Facebook Live Event
2020 North Atlantic Right Whales: Assessing Causes of Death in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canadian Wildlife Federation, Right Whale Entanglement Workshop (Bourque, L., M. Jones)
2019 Right Whales in Canada, USA Congressional Briefing on Entanglement Prevention for Large Whales
2019 North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) Mortality Event, Canada, 2019. Right Whale Consortium. (Bourque, L., T. Wimmer, M. Jaleques, S. Lair, M. Jones and P-Y. Daoust)
2017 Right Whale Mortality Event in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 2017. Right Whale Consortium. (Daoust, P-Y., Couture, É.L., Wimmer, T., Bourque, L., Ratelle, S. and M. Hardy)
2015 Strandings in the Canadian Maritime Provinces, 1990–2014,22nd Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals. Wimmer, T., Reid, G.A., Daoust P-Y. and McAlpine, D.
2015 Response to dead and distressed North Atlantic right whales in Canada. Right Whale Consortium. (Wimmer, T. Reid, G.A., Brown, M. and Michaud, R.)
DOCUMENTARIES, PODCASTS AND EXHIBITS
2025 The Right Whale, Documentary, Spindrift Images, Featured Scientist
2024 Follow the Journey, Documentary, Film-Truth Productions, Featured Scientist
2022 Cetaceans – Imperilled Giants, Maritime Aboriginal Peoples Council, CLOCEAN podcast
2021 Great Whales Up Close Exhibit and Facebook Live Event, Royal Ontario Museum
2021 Last of the Right Whale, Documentary, HitPlay Productions, Featured Scientist
2020 The Last Song of the Whale., Documentary, Botsford Productions, Featured Scientist
2020 Sea in Her Blood Exhibit and Presentation, A Life with Whales, Maritime Museum, Featured Scientist
DATA CONTRIBUTIONS
2011. Allison G. Henry, Timothy VN Cole, Mendy Garron, and Lanni Hall.
Mortality and serious injury determinations for baleen whale stocks along the United States eastern seaboard and adjacent Canadian Maritimes, 2004-2008
2010. AH Glass, TVN Cole, and M Garron.
2009. AH Glass, TVN Cole, and M Garron.
2008. AH Glass, TVN Cole, M Garron, RL Merrick, and RM Pace III.
2007. M Nelson, M Garron, RL Merrick, RM Pace III, and TVN Cole.
MEDIA RELEASES
October 29, 2024
July 15, 2021
2019 North Atlantic Right Whale Mortality Report Release
June 24, 2020
July 20, 2018