Marine protected areas for whales, dolphins, and porpoises: a world ...

Habitat Protection for Cetaceans around the World 111
conservation in the region from 12 nm (22.2 km) to 200 nm (371 km) and
beyond, on the high seas of the Northeast Atlantic.
In 1995, there was a total of 16 MPAs of all kinds in this marine region
(Bleakley and Alexander, 1995). The region is divided into five biogeographic
zones, four of which were represented by at least one MPA. As of 2004,
according to Table 5.3 prepared for this book, there are three proposed
international MPAs, 23 existing and 16 proposed MPAs (including 11 unnamed
Russian Arctic areas) – all of which feature cetacean habitat. Two of the existing
MPAs are proposed for a higher protection level.
The IUCN 2002–2010 Conservation Action Plan for the World’s Cetaceans
recommends a number of research and education initiatives for the Arctic
Marine Region (Reeves et al, 2003):
• to assess the status of the Svalbard-Barents Sea stock of bowhead whales
between East Greenland and Russia and identify threats to their survival
and recovery; and
• to promote intensive field research on bowhead whales in the eastern
Canadian Arctic (also applies to Marine Region 4).
Both of these initiatives are of highest priority as they focus on endangered
species in the region, and the Svalbard-Barents Sea stock of bowhead whales is
critically endangered.
Case Study 2: Svalbard – a complicated protection regime
Svalbard National Parks, Nature Reserves and
Other Protected Areas
Type: National parks, nature reserves and other protected areas which include
mainly land with coastal and marine areas.
Location: Svalbard including territorial waters bordering the Barents Sea, Greenland
Sea and Arctic Ocean. Spitsbergen, which is often used interchangeably with
Svalbard, is actually the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago.
Cetacean species: common: beluga, Delphinapterus leucas; also: narwhal,
Monodon monoceros; minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata; white-beaked
dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris; fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus; humpback
whale, Megaptera novaeangliae; blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus; orca, Orcinus
orca; Atlantic white-sided dolphin, Lagenorhynchus acutus; usually more offshore:
northern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon ampullatus; sperm whale, Physeter
macrocephalus; sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis.
Additional species and other features: polar bear, Ursus maritimus; walrus,
Odobenus rosmarus; harp seal, Phoca groenlandica; ringed seal, Phoca hispida;
gray seal, Halichoerus grypus; bearded seal, Erignathus barbatus; hooded seal,
Cystophora cristata; harbour seal, Phoca vitulina; various important seabird staging
and feeding areas; more than 50 fish species; around 175 species of bryozoans