Has the response to marine mammal unusual mortality events improved?
NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have both benefited from the structure set up by the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Act. With the preparation of the National Contingency Plan and the advice of the Working Group on Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events, our response to unusual mortality events is a real success story. We have been able to determine a variety of causes for unusual mortality events ranging from diseases such as morbilliviruses, to harmful algal blooms that produce biotoxins, to environmental conditions such as El Niño. Back in 1987-88, it was assumed that such events were relatively rare. With increasing sophistication, we have found that such events are not nearly as rare as had been assumed. Since the Working Group on Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events was set up in 1993, they have been consulted ten different times. Last month they were consulted on the increase in harbor porpoise deaths on the east coast. That consultation demonstrates ho
