Cetaceans interact with trawls to an undetermined extent. A preliminary review of global data indicates that individuals of 25 cetacean species (two mysticete, 23 odontocete) have been documented to have died in working trawls or discarded trawling gear. Cetacean interactions with trawls are complex, in part because both fishermen and cetaceans are drawn to areas of high prey density. Furthermore, within such areas, cetaceans are probably often attracted to trawling activities because they make it easier for the animals to exploit a concentrated food source. Individuals of 15 (possibly 16) cetacean species (13 odontocete, and one or even two mysticete) have been reported to feed in association with trawls. Animals follow working nets (feeding on stirred-up organisms or fish gilled in mesh) and also feed on discarded by-catch. Damage to gear as a result of feeding interactions or entanglement has been reported. Such damage results in (1) harm to the animals, (2) creation of negative opinions of cetaceans by fishermen (regardless of whether a cetacean or a shark is, in fact, responsible for the damage in question), and (3) loss of time and money for repair and replacement of gear. The relationships of cetaceans with trawls need to be further studied to determine what effects the trawl fisheries have on the ecology and population status of the whales and dolphins involved.

Reports of West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus) in the US Gulf of Mexico west of Florida have increased during the last decade. We reviewed all available manatee sighting, capture, and carcass records (n = 377) from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas since the early 1900s; only 40 of these were previously published. Manatees were reported most often in estuarine habitats, usually either near a freshwater source or natural or industrial warm-water springs/runoffs during winter months. The recent increase in manatee records may be due to a combination of increased public awareness and dispersal of manatees, most likely seasonal migrants from Florida. We caution that the presence of artificial warm-water sources outside of the manatee's traditional range may attract an increasing number of manatees and could increase the incidence of cold-related mortality in this region.

Although humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) calves are reported to vocalize, this has not been measurably verified. During March 2006, an underwater video camera and two-element hydrophone array were used to record nonsong vocalizations from a mother-calf escort off Hawaii. Acoustic data were analyzed; measured time delays between hydrophones provided bearings to 21 distinct vocalizations produced by the male calf. Signals were pulsed (71%), frequency modulated (19%), or amplitude modulated (10%). They were of simple structure, low frequency (mean=220 Hz), brief duration (mean=170 ms), and relatively narrow bandwidth (mean=2 kHz). The calf produced three series of "grunts" when approaching the diver. During winters of the years 2001-2005 in Hawaii, nonsong vocalizations were recorded in 109 (65%) of 169 groups with a calf using an underwater video and single (omnidirectional) hydrophone. Nonsong vocalizations were most common (34 of 39) in lone mother-calf pairs. A subsample from this dataset of 60 signals assessed to be vocalizations provided strong evidence that 10 male and 18 female calves vocalized based on statistical similarity to the 21 verified calf signals, proximity to an isolated calf (27 of 28 calves), strong signal-to-noise ratio, and/or bubble emissions coincident to sound.

1. The Clymene dolphin Stenella clymene is found in tropical and warm temperate waters of both the North and South Atlantic Oceans. Confusion surrounding the identifying characteristics of this species has contributed to a general lack of knowledge of this species. 2. We collected and verified a total of 195 records (109 sightings, 67 strandings, and 19 captures) of Clymene dolphins. Twenty‐five per cent (n = 49) of these records were previously unpublished. Rejected records are discussed in order to clarify the literature. 3. The northernmost locations for the Clymene dolphin are 39°17′N, 74°35′W (NJ, USA) and 19°1.9′N, 16°13.5′W (113 km north of Nouakchott, Mauritania). The southernmost locations are 29°58′S, 50°07′W (Tramandaí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) and 3°40′S, 18°5′W (off Ascension Island). 4. Clymene dolphins were found in waters with bottom depths ranging from 44 to 4500 m (mean = 1870 m; SE = 110 m; median = 1675 m; n = 94). A single sighting reported at a location with a bottom depth of 44 m is considered to be atypical, as this species has an otherwise exclusively oceanic distribution. 5. Group sizes ranged from at least one individual in a mixed‐species school of spinner dolphins Stenella longirostris to a group of an estimated 1000 animals (mean = 76.1; SE = 11; median = 47; n = 105). Stranding group size ranged from 1 to 46 individuals (n = 67), with single individuals being most common (n = 60). There is information available for seven mass strandings, all of which occurred in the south‐eastern USA.

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