Gordon Waring

• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation
• Researcher at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Information regarding beaked whales is so sparse that even the most basic aspects of their biology, such as their distribution, remain poorly defined for some species. We have reviewed the known distribution of each beaked whale species and where possible, used this information to infer its global distribution. While for some species, such as the r...

Abstract We examined and identified the stomach contents of 188 gray seals (Halichoerus grypus atlantica) incidentally killed in commercial fisheries off the northeast United States from 1994 to 2016. Gray seals were captured predominately in southern New England waters extending to the shelf edge and in the near-shore waters of the western Gulf of...

As the sampling frequency and resolution of Earth observation imagery increase, there are growing opportunities for novel applications in population monitoring. New methods are required to apply established analytical approaches to data collected from new observation platforms (e.g., satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles). Here, we present a meth...

Influenza A virus (IAV) has been associated with multiple unusual mortality events (UMEs) in North Atlantic pinnipeds, frequently attributed to spillover of virus from wild-bird reservoirs. To determine if endemic infection persists outside of UMEs, we undertook a multiyear investigation of IAV in healthy, live-captured Northwest Atlantic gray seal...

We analyzed the stomach contents of 250 harbor seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) that had been incidentally killed in commercial fisheries off the northeast United States from 1994 to 2014. Most seals were captured in the near-shore waters of the western Gulf of Maine, near Cape Ann, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and 38 (15.2%) were captured/kille...

Oral presentation at the Northwest Atlantic Seal Research Consortium, Seals and Ecosystem Health Conference, May 1 and 2, 2015, Salem, Ma. USA

The stock structure of the sei whale Balaenoptera borealis in the North Atlantic is unknown, despite years of commercial hunting. New and up-to-date data on distribution and movements are essential for the creation of plausible hypotheses about the stock structure of this species. Between 2008 and 2009 satellite tracks of 8 sei whales were obtained...

The stock structure of the sei whale Balaenoptera borealis in the North Atlantic is unknown, despite years of commercial hunting. New and up-to-date data on distribution and movements are essential for the creation of plausible hypotheses about the stock structure of this species. Between 2008 and 2009 satellite tracks of 8 sei whales were obtained...

Proceedings of a program development workshop 9-11 September 2009, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA. 78pp.

1 A bibliometric analysis of the literature on the sei whale Balaenoptera borealis is presented. Research output on the species is quantified and compared with research on four other whale species. The results show a significant increase in research for all species except the sei whale. Research output is characterized chronologically and by oceani...

Although historically distributed along the northeast coast of the United States (US), grey seals (Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)) were considered locally extinct until the late 1980s when three naturally re-established pupping colonies were discovered. Two large populations in Canada, the Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL) and Sable Island (SI) seal...

Satellite telemetry as a tool to help defining the International Whaling Commission whale management areas

We conducted a review of the literature and unpublished databases to describe the distribution, abundance, ecology and status of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) in U.S. Atlantic waters. The harbour seal is the most abundant and widespread seal species in this area. Since passage of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the number o...

The sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) can be found in all ocean basins, normally in pelagic waters. Like most large whales, sei whales undertake extensive, seasonal, latitudinal migrations, spending the summer feeding in sub-polar waters and returning to lower latitudes in the winter to calve. On a global scale, the sei whale has the broadest range...

Marine mammals are a diverse, widespread, and significant component of North Atlantic marine ecosystems. Four of the five commonly recognized marine mammal taxa reside in the North Atlantic: cetaceans, sirenians, pinnipeds, and polar bears. A fifth taxon and sea and sea lions and fur seals (family Otariidae) have not inhabited the North Atlantic si...

Long-distance migration for most species of baleen whales is poorly understood because of the practical difficulties and substantial expense involved in gathering relevant data. Presently, sat-ellite tracking is the only method that delivers the necessary detail and quantitative data on move-ment patterns on far-ranging marine mammals. In this stud...

During 4 June-2 July 2004, the Norwegian R/V G.O. Sars conducted a multi-disciplinary survey along the mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) from the Reykjanes Ridge to north of the Azores. This provided the first systematic survey information on MAR cetacean populations. Using naked eye or 7350 hand-held binoculars, observers searched in a 140° arc centred alo...

The 2004 Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR)-ECO expedition on the R.V. G.O. Sars provided the first opportunity to correlate oceanic distributions of cetaceans with synoptic acoustic (ADCP to 700m depth, multi-beam echosounders) measurements of high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D) potential habitat (spatial scale

Marine mammal surveys were conducted during sum Mer 1990 and 1991 in shelf-edge and off-shelf waters between Cape Hatteras and Georges Bank. Sperm whales were the most frequently sighted large whale in both years, constituting 27.9% and 12.7% of total sightings in 1990 and 1991, respectively. Sighting rates of sperm whales that were within a 9.3 km...

A bstract Sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ) and beaked whales ( Mesoplodon spp. and Ziphius cavirostris ) are deep‐diving cetaceans that frequent shelf‐edge and Gulf Stream waters off the northeast U. S. coast. Sighting data collected during seven summer (1990, 1991, 1993, and 1995–1998) shipboard surveys were analyzed using a geographic info...

We captured and radio-tagged 29 harbor seals in spring 2001 in Chatham, MA, and off Rockland, ME. Male and female seals of all ages were captured in Chatham, compared to mostly juveniles in Maine. Seventy-five percent (9/12) of the Chatham seals moved to the Maine coast in spring and summer during the pupping, breeding, and moult seasons. Similarly...

A bstract Aerial counts of harbor seals ( Pboca vitulina concolor ) on ledges along the Maine coast were conducted during the pupping season in 1981, 1986, 1993, 1997, and 2001. Between 1981 and 2001, the uncorrected counts of seals increased from 10,543 to 38,014, an annual rate of 6.6 percent. In 2001 30 harbor seals were captured and radio‐tagge...

Estimating the abundance and density of beaked whales is more difficult than for most other cetacean species. Consequently few estimates appear in the published literature. Field identification is problematic, especially for the smaller species, and visual detecti on rates decrease dramatically with Beaufort sea state; prior experience is very impo...