. An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) . Two orders of marine mammals inhabit the nearshore Gulf of Maine region: Pinnipedia (seals) and Cetacea (whales and dolphins). Twenty-one species of whales and porpoises and five species of seals have been reported in the Gulf of Maine but only five species in all are common to coastal Maine. The others are either uncommon, rare, or are found mainly far out to sea. Most cetaceans exhibit rather clear migratory patterns, that is, they swim northerly along the coast in the spring and southerly in the fall and
. An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) . Two orders of marine mammals inhabit the nearshore Gulf of Maine region: Pinnipedia (seals) and Cetacea (whales and dolphins). Twenty-one species of whales and porpoises and five species of seals have been reported in the Gulf of Maine but only five species in all are common to coastal Maine. The others are either uncommon, rare, or are found mainly far out to sea. Most cetaceans exhibit rather clear migratory patterns, that is, they swim northerly along the coast in the spring and southerly in the fall and apparently are absent or scarce in winter. The Harbor seal, however, is a year round resident. Because of their mobility and observed seasonal migrations along the coast, most cetaceans have only a seasonal role in the ecology of coastal waters. Coastal Maine waters from the Bay of Fundy to New Hampshire are vitally important to many northwest Atlantic populations. This region is the major range of harbor porpoises and harbor seals and is essential for feeding and breeding (Katona et al. 1977). It is also part of the native range of the gray seal, whose populations were reduced by hunting in the past. The area east of Penobscot Bay, particularly the Mt. Desert Rock region and the approaches to the Bay of Fundy, appears to be an important summer feeding area for humpback and finback whales. Two endangered whales, the northern right whale and the humpback whale, make regular use of the approaches to the Bay of Fundy each year (Gaskin et al. 1979). Data for determining the abundance and changes in abundance of whale species for the northwest Atlantic, the Gulf of Maine, and coastal Maine generally are scattered and/or intermittent. Until recently, for example, no systematic or sustained counts of cetaceans have been made and most of the data available are from "chance" observations. The Bureau of Land Management's Cetacean and Turtle Assessment Program (CETAP), conducted
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