Eschrichtius robustus

– Lower Risk Conservation Dependent

Taxonomy

Kingdom:

ANIMALIA

Phylum:

CHORDATA

Class:

MAMMALIA

Order:

CETACEA

Family:

ESCHRICHTIIDAE

Scientific Name:

Eschrichtius robustus

Species Authority:

(Lilljeborg, 1861)

Infra-specific Taxa Assessed:

See Eschrichtius robustus (Northeast Pacific (American) stock)

See Eschrichtius robustus (Northwest Pacific (Asian) stock)

Common Name/s:

English	—	DEVIL FISH, GRAY BACK, GRAY WHALE, GREY WHALE, HARD HEAD, MUSSEL DIGGER, RIP SACK
French	—	BALEINE GRISE, BALEINE À SIX BOSSES
Spanish	—	BALLENA GRIS

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:	LR/cd ver 2.3 (1994)
Year Assessed:	1996
Annotations:	Needs updating
Assessor/s:	Cetacean Specialist Group
Justification:	Extract from Reeves et al. (2003, p. 37): "The Gray Whale was extirpated from the North Atlantic within the last 300–400 years, so the only extant representatives of the family Eschrichtiidae are the Gray Whales in the North Pacific. The Western Pacific stock, which may number no more than about 100 individuals, was reclassified in the 2000 IUCN Red List from Endangered to Critically Endangered (under the 1996 categories and criteria). Its principal summer feeding area is off Sakhalin Island in the Russian sector of the Okhotsk Sea, where a major oil and gas field is being developed by a multinational energy consortium (Weller et al. 2002). The annual migration takes these whales into coastal waters of Japan, Korea, and China, where they are vulnerable to ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear. Moreover, a female from this population was found on a Japanese beach in 1996 bearing several harpoons of the kind used in the Dall’s porpoise hunt off Japan (Brownell and Kasuya 1999, Baker et al. 2002). This incident demonstrates that the western Pacific population is at risk from illegal hunting. The eastern stock of more than 21,000 has been growing steadily in spite of an annual hunt in Russia governed by an IWC quota (Buckland and Breiwick 2002). In recent years, however, this population has experienced an unprecedented amount of mortality on its migration route and in the winter breeding areas, and exhibited a decline in calf production (Le Boeuf et al. 2000). There is concern that these trends, should they persist, could lead to a significant decline in abundance of the Eastern Pacific stock."

Geographic Range

Range Description:

"The Gray Whale became extinct in the North Atlantic in early historical times but survives in the North Pacific, where there are two geographically separated populations." (Rice 1998)

Countries:

Native:

Canada; China; Japan; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Mexico; Russian Federation; United States

Regionally extinct:

Belgium; Iceland; Netherlands; Sweden; United Kingdom

FAO Marine Fishing Areas:

Native:

Arctic Sea; Pacific-northeast; Pacific-northwest; Pacific-western central

Regionally extinct:

Atlantic-northeast; Atlantic-northwest; Atlantic-western central

Habitat and Ecology

System:

Marine

List of Habitats:

9.1	Marine Neritic - Pelagic
10.1	Marine Oceanic - Epipelagic (0-200m)

Threats

List of Threats:

3.1.3	Harvesting (hunting/gathering) - Food - Regional/international trade (past)
4.1.1.3	Accidental mortality - Bycatch - Fisheries-related - Entanglement (ongoing)
4.2.2	Accidental mortality - Collision - Vehicle collision (ongoing)
6.3.6	Pollution (affecting habitat and/or species) - Water pollution - Oil slicks (future)
8.3	Changes in native species dynamics - Prey/food base (future)
9.2	Intrinsic factors - Poor recruitment/reproduction/regeneration (ongoing)
10.4	Human disturbance - Transport (future)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Baker, C.S., Dalebout, M.L., Lento, G.M. and Funahashi, N. 2002. Gray Whale products sold in commercial markets along the Pacific coast of Japan. Marine Mammal Science 18: 295–300.

Brownell Jr., R.L. and Kasuya, T. 1999. Western gray whale captured off western Hokaido, Japan. Unpublished document, SC/51/AS25, submitted to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission.

Buckland, S.T. and Breiwick, J.M. 2002. Estimated trends in abundance of eastern Pacific Gray Whales from shore counts (1967/68 to 1995/96). Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 4: 41–48.

Le Boeuf, B.J., Pérez-Cortés M.H., Urbán R.J., Mate, B.R. and Ollervides U.F. 2000. High Gray Whale mortality and low recruitment in 1999: potential causes and implications. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 2: 85–99.

Reeves, R.R., Smith, B.D., Crespo, E.A. and di Sciara, G.N. (compilers) 2003. Dolphins, Whales and Porpoises: 2002-2010 Conservation Action Plan for the World's Cetaceans. IUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Rice, D.W. 1998. Marine Mammals of the World. Systematics and Distribution. Special Publication Number 4. The Society for Marine Mamalogy, Lawrence, Kansas.

Weller, D.W., Burdin, A.M., Würsig, B., Taylor, B.L. and Brownell Jr., R.L. 2002. The western Gray Whale: a review of past exploitation, current status and potential threats. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 4: 7–12.

Citation:	Cetacean Specialist Group 1996. Eschrichtius robustus. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06 September 2008.
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