If you are interested in more information, contact The HSUS's Wildlife section. Most Americans associate marine mammals with two orders of animals-the ceteceans, including the whales and dolphins, and the pinnipeds, consisting of the seals, sea lions, and walrus. The more informed recognize another marine mammal order, the sirenians, represented in the United States by one species, the manatee, mainly found along the Florida peninsula. Less widely recognized as marine mammals, but still officially classified as marine mammals, include one ursine species, the polar bear, and a mustelid, the sea otter. This report will examine American views of all marine mammals and their management, although mostly focusing on, for reasons of greater significance and familiarity, the cetaceans and pinnipeds.
Marine mammals are among the most privileged yet beleaguered of creatures in America today.
Many marine mammals enjoy unusually strong public interest and support, their popularity having expanded enormously during the past half-century. Marine mammals are also relatively unique among wildlife in America in having been the recipients of legislation dedicated exclusively to their protection, management, and conservation. More problematically, various marine mammal species have been the source of considerable policy conflict and management controversy, both domestically and internationally, and an associated array of challenges to their well-being and, in some cases, future survival. Today, more indirect threats to many marine mammals species have emerged, particularly adverse effects associated with commercial fishing, marine pollution, oil and gas extraction, and even the non-consumptive use of marine mammals in the wild and captivity. These emerging threats, along with more traditional challenges associated with the continued and possible resumed harvest of some species, have thrust marine mammals into the center of major conflicts involving competing interests at state, national, and international levels.