The Whale Museum, 62 1st Street N, PO Box 945, Friday Harbor, Washington 98250, USA.
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Marine Mammal Investigations, 7801 Phillips Road SW, Tacoma, Washington 98498, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2021 Jul 1;57(3):689-693. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-20-00221.
Documenting human impacts on marine mammals is critical for understanding and mitigating harm. Although propeller strike injuries in small marine mammals are often debilitating and fatal, little is known about the occurrence or demographics of these types of injuries in pinniped populations. Using data of stranded harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Salish Sea from 2002-19, we identified 27 cases of fatal propeller strikes. Weaned pups were the most frequently affected (64% of cases) with a much higher rate of propeller strikes than expected for the age class. Although they do represent animal welfare concerns, harbor seals in the Salish Sea probably are not threatened by these types of injuries at the population level; nevertheless, propeller strike cases increased significantly over the time of this study period, indicating increased interactions between boats and seals in the region. Continued monitoring and increased efforts to consistently quantify vessel traffic in the area are recommended to create and monitor long-term effectiveness of mitigation measures.
记录人类活动对海洋哺乳动物的影响对于了解和减轻伤害至关重要。尽管小型海洋哺乳动物的螺旋桨撞击伤通常会导致衰弱甚至致命，但关于鳍足类种群中此类伤害的发生情况或人口统计学特征知之甚少。利用 2002-2019 年在萨利希海搁浅的港海豹（Phoca vitulina）的数据，我们确定了 27 例致命螺旋桨撞击事件。哺乳期幼崽是最常受影响的（64%的病例），其螺旋桨撞击的发生率远远高于该年龄段的预期。尽管这些事件确实代表了动物福利问题，但在种群水平上，萨利希海的港海豹可能不会受到这些类型伤害的威胁；然而，在本研究期间，螺旋桨撞击病例显著增加，表明该地区船只与海豹之间的相互作用增加。建议继续监测并加大努力，以在该地区持续量化船只交通，以制定和监测缓解措施的长期效果。
