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Environmental information systems
Europe is home to 44 species of marine mammals including whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals, although the diversity of species varies between regional seas.
Of these marine mammals, more than 30 species are whales, dolphins, and porpoises — collectively known as cetaceans — can be seen in Europe’s seas. The harbour porpoise is the only cetacean known to occur in all four of Europe's regional seas. Many cetaceans are considered resident (or regularly occurring) in Europe's regional seas (e.g. the common dolphin, the sperm whale, and the fin whale). Other cetaceans are considered to be visiting or occasionally-occurring species (e.g. the blue whale and the humpback whale).
In addition to cetaceans, eight species of seals can be seen in Europe's regional seas, but several of these species are restricted in their distribution to the Arctic Sea (e.g. the walrus, the harp seal, the bearded seal and the hooded seal). Although seals spend most of their time at sea, they come out of the sea onto coasts and beaches to mate; give birth; raise young; molt; escape from predators; and rest. Seals primarily feed on fish and marine invertebrates.
Which are the related MSFD Descriptors?
The quality and occurrence of habitats and the distribution and abundance of species are in line with prevailing physiographic, geographic and climatic conditions.
When assessing health of marine mammal populations of seals and cetaceans are assessed separately due to their different life histories and ecological requirements.
General outcomes of the regional assessments
Seals
Cetaceans
Outcomes from the MSFD assessments
In 2018, Member States had to update the Good Environmental Status (GES) assessments performed under Marine Strategy Framework Directive Article 8. The present dashboard displays the overall status reported by countries for the features, where the results show which is the percentage of assessments where GES has been achieved, not achieved or is unknown or not assessed.
References
- a bHelsinki Commission, 2018, State of the Baltic Sea - Second HELCOM Holistic assessment 2011-2016., Baltic Sea Environment Proceedings No. 155, Helsinki Commission, Helsinki, Finland (http://www.helcom.fi/baltic-sea-trends/holistic-assessments/state-of-the-baltic-sea-2018/reports-and-materials/)
- a bUnited Nations Environment Programme, M. A. P. (Barcelona C., 2018, UNEPMAP QSR Biodiversity and Ecosystems(EO1) (https://www.medqsr.org/biodiversity-and-ecosystems-eo1)
- a bOSPAR Commission, 2017, OSPAR Intermediate Assessment 2017 Extent of Physical Damage to Predominant and Special Habitats (https://oap.ospar.org/en/ospar-assessments/intermediate-assessment-2017/biodiversity-status/habitats/extent-physical-damage-predominant-and-special-habitats/)
- ↵Waggitt, James (2019), Data from: Distribution maps of cetacean and seabird populations in the North-East Atlantic, v6, Dryad (DOI: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mw6m905sz)
- ↵Temple, H.J. and Terry, A., 2007, The Status and Distribution of European Mammals. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. viii + 48pp (https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/species/redlist/downloads/European_mammals.pdf)