# data[].attributes.body
In the first chapter, Gumbs invites us to “listen” like marine mammals, not only to sound, but to presence and survival itself. Dolphins use echolocation to sense their environment, communicate across great distances, and detect prey with astonishing precision. This form of listening is rooted in attention, vibration, and intuition, rather than just verbal speech. Dolphins remind us that listening is an embodied practice that can help us stay alive in hostile conditions. Gumbs uses echolocation as both literal and metaphorical guidance for how we might tune in to each other more deeply.

Citation:
“Bottlenose Dolphin.” National Geographic, 2023, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/bottlenose-dolphin.

# data[].attributes.body
Gumbs honors the North Atlantic right whale as a relative of her Shinnecock ancestors and a living example of survival under systemic threat. These whales surface to breathe despite centuries of colonial hunting and modern dangers like ship strikes and entanglement. Their need to breathe, slow, visible, and constant, becomes a metaphor for resistance and resilience. In a world that often denies rest and breath to Black and Indigenous people, the right whale models deliberate survival. Breathing, Gumbs reminds us, is not passive, it is a political, ancestral, and sacred act.

Citation:
“North Atlantic Right Whale.” NOAA Fisheries, 2024, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/north-atlantic-right-whale.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
North Atlantic Right Whale | NOAA Fisheries

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered large whale species. Learn more about North Atlantic right whales and NOAA Fisheries’ work to protect and conserve the species.

# data[].attributes.body
In “Remember,” Gumbs emphasizes the importance of honoring Indigenous knowledge and naming, citing the Tuxuci dolphin as a rare example of a marine mammal referred to by its original name. The Amazon River dolphin, also called boto or Tuxuci, lives in the flooded forests of South America and holds cultural significance in Indigenous Amazonian communities. Despite colonial attempts to rename and reframe the species, these names endure as acts of remembrance. Gumbs calls us to recognize and reclaim what’s been erased, both in our histories and ecosystems. The Tuxuci reminds us that names are part of memory, and memory is a form of survival.

Citation:
“Amazon River Dolphin.” World Wildlife Fund, https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/amazon-river-dolphin.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amazon River Dolphin (Pink Dolphins) | Species | WWF

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Amazon river dolphin, also known as pink river dolphins, is becoming vulnerable in certain areas due to dams and contamination of rivers and lakes. Help WWF save them.

# data[].attributes.body
In this chapter, Gumbs reflects on the importance of collective, consistent practice through her involvement with UBUNTU, a women of color survivor-led organization. UBUNTU was founded on principles of transformative justice, mutual aid, and healing without relying on carceral systems. The group emphasized daily rituals of care, showing up, listening, and rebuilding relationships as key to liberation. UBUNTU’s work directly models the kind of intentional, sustained effort Gumbs associates with marine mammals. Practice isn’t just what we do, it’s who we become.

Citation:
“UBUNTU: A Women of Color Survivor-Led Organization.” Transform Harm, https://transformharm.org/ubuntu-a-women-of-color-survivor-led-organization/.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
404 - Page not found | TransformHarm.org

# data[].attributes.body
In “Collaborate,” Gumbs highlights the social behaviors of marine mammals like belugas, who are nicknamed “canaries of the sea” for their vast vocal range and sound-based teamwork. Belugas live in pods, cooperate to care for young, and rely on shared communication to survive in harsh environments. This deep interdependence is not a weakness but a strength, offering a model for human solidarity. Gumbs urges us to reconsider competition as a default and instead draw inspiration from animals that thrive together. Collaboration, as belugas show us, is a way of life.

Citation:
“Why Are Belugas Called the ‘Canaries of the Sea’?” Ocean Wise, https://ocean.org/blog/why-are-belugas-called-the-canaries-of-the-sea/.

# data[].attributes.body
This article highlights the vulnerability of sea lions facing starvation due to environmental changes. Gumbs invites us to see vulnerability not as weakness, but as openness to truth, intimacy, and care. Sea lions, dependent on ecosystems disrupted by climate change, embody this lesson. Their suffering asks us to take responsibility and offer protection. Gumbs shows how shared vulnerability can lead to collective strength.

Citation: Walsh, Bryan. "Sea Lions Are Starving to Death — and We Don't Know Why." Time, 16 Apr. 2014, https://time.com/97041/sea-lions-are-dying/.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Photos: Inside a Hospital for California's Stranded Seals and Sea Lions

On a sunny, windy morning in the rolling hills outside San Francisco, a pickup truck parks on what was once a missile site for the U.S. military. In the bed of the truck is a big white crate holding a little sea lion pup, an animal about half the size he should be, shaking with weakness. Pacheco-named for the road that runs by the stretch of nearby Ocean Beach where members of the public found the animal stranded-is the newest "patient" at the Marine Mammal Center. But, like nearly half of the other animals who arrive there, he might not be at the center long. "You can see his backbone," says Shawn Johnson, director of veterinary science. "He's not surviving."

The Marine Mammal Center, situated in part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, is the largest rehabilitation facility of its kind, and Pacheco is the latest in a record number of patients who have been delivered to their door this year. "It was like hitting a wall," Executive Director Jeff Boehm says of the swell that started this spring. "The animals hit us fast and furious." The influx of nearly 500 ailing sea lions, elephant seals and harbor seals is straining the resources of the non-profit Center. But it's also providing opportunities to learn more about diseases that affect seals, sea lions-and land animals like humans.

Many of the patients currently in the care of the center's 50 staff members and 1,100-member volunteer network are pups like Pacheco. In a normal year, the veterinarians might see 20 California sea lion pups who are malnourished and undersized. Since the beginning of this year, they've already treated around 100. "There's a disturbance in the ocean right now," says Johnson. "For some reason, they're being abandoned by their moms."

Each summer, such pups are born in the Channel Islands, a string off the southern coast of California, where they're reared for nearly a year. The islands are hundreds of miles from San Francisco, which is why pups like Pacheco "shouldn't be here," as Johnson puts it. His best theory is that something is causing a food shortage, and so the mothers, unable to feed themselves, are deserting their offspring in search of food elsewhere. The pups then set out on their own, but they're too inexperienced and weak to reach foraging grounds, eventually getting swept off course and washing up in places like Ocean Beach, sick and starving.

That's just a theory for now, but the center is piloting a project that could help provide answers. The Marine Mammal Health Map will standardize data from all the marine mammal rehab facilities that care for stranded animals along America's coasts-cataloging where the animals appear and how they're diagnosed-and then overlay that information with oceanographic data already being collected by the government. That could allow experts to link patterns in strandings to temperature changes or ocean swells or the spread of toxins in the sea.

The Marine Mammal Center is part of a national stranding network set up by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The legislation was passed in 1972 after marine animal populations had been decimated by human hunters. Elephant seals, who fill the air at the center with their signature bleats and who can weigh more than 5,000 lbs. (2,267 kg) when fully grown, were once killed for fat that was used in perfume and candles. Sea lions, who traipse around the center's pens on their rotating front fins, were once fed to pigs because they were high in fat and easy to catch. The center was established nearly 40 years ago by a few volunteers who first tried to rehabilitate stranded marine mammals in kiddie pools. It has since grown to inhabit a $32 million complex with high-tech water filtration systems and on-site labs; veterinarians and students from around the world come there to learn about the animals. On the day Pacheco arrived, medical staff from New Zealand and Chile helped perform a procedure on a sea lion named Coco Max, whose rear flipper had swollen to twice its normal size after a bite became infected.

Sometimes that research can lead to surprising breakthroughs for humans. One toxin Johnson and his team have identified among their current patients is domoic acid. This toxin, a naturally occurring one found in algae, causes seizures among marine animals who have eaten small fish that have eaten algae blooms. In humans, domoic acid causes amnesic shellfish poisoning. Mussels filter the contaminated water through their systems, and when people eat the shellfish, the toxin can cause brain damage and memory loss. But government officials and researchers didn't start scouring West Coast waters for domoic acid until scientists at the Marine Mammal Center identified it as a cause of a mysterious seizure outbreak among California sea lions in the late 1990s. Their discovery "led to a huge amount of research about how [amnesic shellfish poisoning] occurs, how to protect humans, a whole new department of public health," says Johnson.

The vast majority of the center's animal patients can't eat or are so young they never learned how to swallow a fish whole. Volunteers blend "fish milkshakes"-made of high-fat herring, fish oil and water-that medical staff pump into the stomachs of the animals until they can be trained in "fish school" to chase and eat herring on their own. With their pens full, the Marine Mammal Center is currently grinding through 1,000 lbs. of fish per day, at a cost of $1 per pound.

And many of the patients won't make it. Last year, about 60% of the animals admitted to the Marine Mammal Center were eventually released back into the wild. Many of the lost had cancer, or were simply too far gone from starvation by the time they were found. Even the success stories can be colored by tragedy. A sea lion named Silent Knight was found listless on a beach in Sausalito four years ago; when he was brought to the center, the veterinarians determined that he had been shot in the head, a too common practice among fisherman frustrated by the animals interfering with their catches or simply bored shooters on the beach. Though the wounds didn't kill Silent Knight, they did blind him, and the animal couldn't be released back into the wild. Happily, the San Francisco Zoo made a home for him instead.

That's the kind of salvation story that employees try to impress on the 100,000 people, many of them school children, who visit each year-and whom the center might eventually depend on for donations in busy times. Right now, staff are anticipating that they might be grappling later this year with a possible El Nino, a period of abnormally warm ocean temperatures that can affect weather around the world. That could mean more storms that separate mothers from their young and less fish for marine mammals to eat. Altogether, that means busy times in the Marin Headlands. But the staff is hoping that as their research advances, they'll be able to figure out a way to keep sea lions and seals from becoming patients in the first place. "That's the goal," says wildlife veterinarian Glenna McGregor. "To put this place out of business."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Record numbers of marine mammals are dying

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
America's busiest marine mammal rehab facility is trying to figure out why mothers seem to be abandoning their young along the Pacific

# data[].attributes.body
The Marine Mammal Laboratory's real-time research reminds us of the importance of being present to observe, record, and respond. Gumbs suggests that presence is a radical act, an investment in the now, and an act of love. Marine mammals, who must always be in tune with their environment to survive, model this attentiveness. Presence allows for clarity, connection, and care. Like these scientists and whales, we must show up fully.

Citation: "Marine Mammal Laboratory." NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/marine-mammal-laboratory.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
John Bengtson

John Bengtson is Director of the Marine Mammal Laboratory, a division of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. He is a wildlife ecologist, science administrator, and senior science advisor supporting marine living resource management. Dr. Bengtson is a specialist in the ecology of high-latitude marine mammals, seabirds, and polar marine ecosystems. In addition to his broad research experience in the Arctic and Antarctic, he has devoted much of his career to working to advance science-informed stewardship of polar marine resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Marine Mammal Laboratory, a division of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, conducts research on whales, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and fur seals off the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. We collect data and develop assessments on marine mammal abundance and trends, seasonal distribution and habitat use, migration patterns, ecology, population dynamics, life history and vital rates, and behavior.

# data[].attributes.body
Orcas, or killer whales, are apex predators known for intelligence and cooperative strength. Gumbs uses their ferocity to encourage bold, loving defense of self and others. Being fierce isn’t about violence, it’s about unwavering protection of community. Like orcas hunting in synchrony, we can act with strategy and unity. Gumbs calls for fierceness rooted in love and vision.

Citation: "Orca (Killer Whale)." National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/orca.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Common Name:

Orca (Killer Whale)

Scientific Name:

Orcinus orca

Average Life Span In The Wild:

50 to 80 years

Size relative to a bus:

What are orcas?

Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world's most powerful predators. They're immediately recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white coloring. Smart and social, orcas make a wide variety of communicative sounds, and each pod has distinctive noises that its members will recognize even at a distance. They use echolocation to communicate and hunt, making sounds that travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back, revealing their location, size, and shape.

( Learn more about the unique culture of killer whales.)

Hunting and diet

Though they often frequent cold, coastal waters, orcas can be found from the polar regions to the Equator. They're at the top of the food chain and have very diverse diets, feasting on fish, penguins, and marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales, employing teeth that can be four inches long. They are known to grab seals right off the ice. They also eat fish, squid, and seabirds.

Orcas hunt in deadly pods, family groups of up to 40 individuals. There appear to be both resident and transient pod populations of orcas. These different groups may prey on different animals and use different techniques to catch them. Resident pods tend to prefer fish, while transient pods target marine mammals. All pods use effective, cooperative hunting techniques that some liken to the behavior of wolf packs.

Reproduction

Orcas are protective of their young, and other adolescent females often assist the mother in caring for them.

( Learn more about how grandmother orcas care for their children's offspring.)

Mothers give birth every three to ten years, after a 17-month pregnancy. They give birth to one baby at a time, which may nurse for up to two years. In most cases, the bond between juvenile and mother will eventually weaken, and the young orca will go its own way, but in some pods, the juvenile may stay with the pod it was born into its entire life.

Orcas in captivity

Orcas are highly intelligent, social mammals that have long been a part of marine park entertainment, performing shows for audiences. However, it's become increasingly clear that orcas do not thrive in captivity.

They have evolved to swim up to 40 miles a day, foraging for food and exercising. They dive 100 to 500 feet, several times a day, every day. Whether they're born in the wild or in captivity, all orcas born have the same innate drive to swim far and dive deep. Artificial enclosures in captivity cannon offer that kind of range to orcas, contributing to boredom and stress. Orcas have been seen to develop stereotypies, also known as zoochosis-repetitive patterns of activity that have no obvious function, which range from self-mutilation to rocking and swaying. Usually related to stress and inappropriate habitats, stereotypic behavior has been documented in orcas in scientific research since the late 1980s.

In the wild, orcas live in tight-knit family groups that share a sophisticated, unique culture that is passed down through generations, research has shown. In captivity, orcas are kept in artificial social groups. Captive-born orcas are often transferred between facilities, breaking up social relationships. The stress of social disruption is compounded by the fact that orcas in captivity don't have the ability to escape conflict with other orcas, or to engage in natural swimming behaviors in pools.

In 2013, the documentary film Blackfish laid bare the psychological toll of captivity, through the story of a wild-caught orca named Tilikum who had killed two trainers at SeaWorld Orlando. The film included testimony from former SeaWorld trainers and cetacean specialists, who argued that Tilikum's stress directly led to his aggression towards humans.

Did you know?

Orcas pass their unique behaviors, like dialects, hunting strategies, and social dynamics, from generation to generation.
- National Geographic

To catch their prey, pods or orcas will engage in intricate and coordinate hunting maneuvers, forcing a group of fish to the water's surface.
- National Geographic

These hunters are so fierce, they can successfully kill a blue whale, the largest animal on Earth.
- National Geographic

Two South African orcas, Port and Starboard, have been observed removing sharks' livers with near surgical precision.
- National Geographic

Orcas are just one of a handful of mammals that go through menopause. Scientists think grandmother orcas may have evolved this trait to help raise their "grandcalves."
- National Geographic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Common Name: Orca (Killer Whale) Scientific Name: Orcinus orca Average Life Span In The Wild: 50 to 80 years Size relative to a bus: Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world's most powerful predators. They're immediately recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white coloring.

# data[].attributes.body
Sea lions often engage in territorial conflict, especially during mating season, but these disputes are ritualized and rarely violent. Gumbs uses this to suggest that conflict doesn’t always signal harm, it can offer opportunities for boundaries, communication, and transformation. Observing how sea lions manage tension shows that conflict can be part of healthy ecosystems. Instead of avoiding it, Gumbs teaches us to learn from it. In this way, conflict becomes a doorway, not a dead end.

Citation: "Sea Lion." National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/sea-lion.

# data[].attributes.body
Harbor seals are naturally solitary animals that value space, often avoiding humans and hauling out on remote rocks to rest. Gumbs calls attention to this behavior as a lesson in boundary-setting and self-preservation. We’re reminded that it’s okay, even necessary, to withdraw, conserve energy, and protect peace. In a society that often encourages overexposure, the harbor seal models healthy separation. Gumbs invites us to honor our inner limits with the same respect.

Citation: "Harbor Seal." NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/harbor-seal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Harbor seals are one of the most common marine mammals along the U.S. West and East Coasts. They are commonly seen resting on rocks and beaches along the coast and on floating ice in glacial fjords with their head and rear flippers elevated in a "banana-like" position.

# data[].attributes.body
The northern fur seal’s dense coat, once coveted by hunters, serves as both a literal and symbolic shield. Gumbs connects this marine mammal’s fur to the politics of Black hair, historically criminalized, commodified, and controlled. By examining the fur seal, we are reminded that natural features are worthy of care and pride, not control or shame. The seal’s coat isn’t just protection, it’s dignity. Gumbs encourages readers to treat their own hair with reverence and freedom.

Citation: "Northern Fur Seal." NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/northern-fur-seal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Northern fur seals are members of the “eared seal” family (Otariidae). They spend most of the year in the ocean. Weaned pups typically spend nearly 2 years away before returning to their breeding colonies. Northern fur seals primarily use open ocean for foraging and rocky beaches for resting, moltin…

# data[].attributes.body
This article explores how algal blooms caused by climate disruption are killing California sea lions, a crisis tied to capitalist pollution and industrial waste. Gumbs draws a direct line between environmental collapse and exploitative economic systems. Marine mammals suffer as oceans warm and food sources disappear, their lives collateral in extractive economies. To end capitalism, Gumbs argues, is to protect life, human and non-human. The chapter is both a warning and a demand.

Citation: Milman, Oliver. "Sea Lions Sickened as Toxic Algae Threatens California's Marine Mammals." The Guardian, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/10/california-coast-sea-lions-algae.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sea lions sickened as toxic algae threatens California’s marine mammals

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Number of animals affected by neurological toxin increases in past week as experts warn of impact from climate crisis

# data[].attributes.body
In Cape Cod, where mass dolphin strandings occur more than anywhere else, humans are finally refusing to treat these deaths as inevitable. Gumbs calls on us to refuse systems that normalize loss and destruction. The new dolphin hospital represents refusal in action, a choice to intervene with care. Like dolphins rejecting captivity, we can opt out of harm. Refusal, Gumbs writes, is the first step toward liberation.

Citation: "Cape Cod Strands More Dolphins Than Anywhere Else. Now They're Getting Their Own Hospital." AP News, 13 Mar. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/f86f556a5170497a7e375b780b5fac3d.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cape Cod strands more dolphins than anywhere else. Now they’re getting their own hospital

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A new hospital for stranded dolphins is opening on Cape Cod this month and is expected to improve survival rates and enhance research.

# data[].attributes.body
Gumbs looks to the manatee, slow-moving and gentle, as an example of surrendering to rhythm and flow. These animals drift through warm coastal waters, yielding to currents rather than fighting them. In a world that rewards hustle and dominance, the manatee’s way is radical. Gumbs shows us how surrender can mean trust, softness, and rest, not defeat. To surrender, like the manatee, is to live aligned with the sea.

Citation: "Manatee." NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/manatee.

# data[].attributes.body
Sperm whales are expert divers, plunging thousands of meters into the ocean’s dark zones to hunt and explore. Gumbs uses their capacity for depth to call us inward, into our fears, our truths, our ancestral knowing. These whales teach us to hold our breath, take risks, and search below the surface. “Go deep” becomes an invitation to radical self-inquiry and communal transformation. The deep is where wisdom lives.

Citation: "Sperm Whale." NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/sperm-whale.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About The Species

Status

Protected Status

Appearance

Behavior and Diet

Where They Live

Sperm whales inhabit all of the world's oceans. Their distribution is dependent on their food source and suitable conditions for breeding, and varies with the sex and age composition of the group. Sperm whale migrations are not as predictable or well understood as migrations of most baleen whales. In some mid-latitudes, sperm whales seem to generally migrate north and south depending on the seasons, moving toward the poles in the summer. However, in tropical and temperate areas, there appears to be no obvious seasonal migration.

Lifespan & Reproduction

Threats

Scientific Classification

Animalia

Chordata

Mammalia

Cetacea

Physeteridae
Physeter macrocephalus

What We Do

Conservation & Management

NOAA Fisheries is committed to the protection and recovery of sperm whales. Targeted management actions taken to protect these whales include:

Consulting with federal agencies to ensure proposed actions are not likely to jeopardize sperm whales via noise disturbance, ship strikes, or other human activities.

Responding to entangled or stranded sperm whales.

Ensuring development of oil spill response plans to prepare for accidental spills.

Educating the public about sperm whales and the threats they face.

Monitoring sperm whale population abundance, distribution, and habitat use.

Learn more about our conservation efforts

Science

Our research projects have discovered new aspects of sperm whale biology, behavior, and ecology and helped us better understand the challenges that sperm whales face. This research is especially important in rebuilding endangered populations. Our work includes, but is not limited to:

Stock assessments.

Measuring the response of animals to sound.

Satellite tagging and tracking.

Learn more about our research

How You Can Help

Report Marine Life in Distress

Report a sick, injured, entangled, stranded, or dead animal to make sure professional responders and scientists know about it and can take appropriate action. Numerous organizations around the country are trained and ready to respond. Never approach or try to save an injured or entangled animal yourself-it can be dangerous to both the animal and you.
Learn who you should contact when you encounter a stranded or injured marine animal >

Call the NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Hotline at (800) 853-1964 to report a federal marine resource violation. This hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for anyone in the United States.

You may also contact your closest NOAA Office of Law Enforcement field during regular business hours.

Management Overview

The sperm whale has been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1970. This means that the sperm whale is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. NOAA Fisheries is working to protect this species, with the goal of increasing population.

Recovery Planning and Implementation

Recovery Action

Under the ESA, NOAA Fisheries is required to develop and implement recovery plans for the conservation and survival of listed species. The Recovery Plan for the sperm whale was published in December 2010. The plan's goal is to delist the species, with an interim goal of down-listing its status from "endangered" to "threatened."

The major actions recommended in the plan are:

Reduce or eliminate injury or mortality caused by vessel collisions.

Reduce or eliminate injury and mortality caused by fisheries and fishing gear.

Protect habitats essential to the survival and recovery of the species.

Minimize effects of vessel disturbance.

Continue international ban on hunting and other directed take.

Monitor the population size and trends in abundance.

Maximize efforts to free entangled or stranded sperm whales.

Acquire scientific information from dead specimens.

Learn more about the recovery plan for sperm whales
Implementation

NOAA Fisheries is working to minimize effects from human activities that are detrimental to the recovery of sperm whale populations in the U.S. and internationally. Together with our partners, we undertake numerous activities to support the goals of the sperm whale recovery plan. The ultimate goal is to delist the species.

Efforts to conserve sperm whales include:

Protecting habitat.

Reducing bycatch.

Rescue, disentanglement, and rehabilitation.

Eliminating the harassment of animals through education and enforcement.

Conservation Efforts

Addressing Ocean Noise

Underwater noise may threaten sperm whales by interrupting their normal behavior and driving them away from areas important to their survival. Mounting evidence suggests that exposure to intense underwater sound may cause injury to sperm whales resulting in loss of hearing, or possibly stranding and ultimately death. NOAA Fisheries is investigating sound production and hearing in marine animals, as well as the effects of sound on whale behavior. In 2016, we issued technical guidance for assessing the effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals' hearing.
Learn more about ocean noise
Overseeing Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response

We work with volunteer networks in all coastal states to respond to marine mammal strandings. When stranded animals are found alive, NOAA Fisheries and its partners assess the animal's health and try to return it to the water. When stranded animals are found dead, our scientists work to understand and investigate the cause of death. Although the cause often remains unknown, scientists can sometimes identify strandings due to disease, harmful algal blooms, vessel strikes, fishing gear entanglements, pollution exposure, and underwater noise. Some strandings can serve as indicators of ocean health, giving insight into larger environmental issues that can have implications for human health and welfare.
Learn more about the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program
Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, an unusual mortality event (UME) is defined as "a stranding that is unexpected; involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population; and demands immediate response." To understand the health of marine mammal populations, scientists study unusual mortality events.
Get information on active and past UMEs Get an overview of marine mammal UMEs
Educating the Public

NOAA Fisheries increases public awareness and support for marine mammal conservation through education, outreach, and public participation. We regularly share information with the public about the status of sperm whales, our research, and our efforts to promote their recovery.

Regulatory History

Key Actions and Documents

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) requires completion of periodic reviews of species that are listed as threatened or endangered to ensure that the listing of these species remains accurate.

NOAA Fisheries was petitioned&nbsp;to list&nbsp;sperm whale&nbsp;in the Gulf of Mexico as an endangered or threatened distinct population segment under the Endangered Species Act. A&nbsp;review of the status of this population was conducted and based on...

NOAA Fisheries announces the adoption of an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Recovery Plan for the Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). The Recovery Plan contains revisions and additions in consideration of public comments received on the proposed draft...

In 1970, the sperm whale was listed as endangered throughout its range under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969.

Science Overview

NOAA Fisheries conducts research on the biology, behavior, and ecology of the sperm whale. The research is used to inform management decisions and enhance recovery efforts for this endangered species.

Tracks the implementation of recovery actions from Endangered Species Act...

Documents

Programmatic biological opinion on the Gulf of Mexico oil and Gas Program in federal waters.

Research

Studying oceanic cetacean societies: their diversity, complexity, and conservation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales and have one of the widest global distributions of any marine mammal species. They are found in all deep oceans, from the equator to the edge of the pack ice in the Arctic and Antarctic.

# data[].attributes.body
The melon-headed whale, sleek and often dark-skinned, is one of the lesser-known cetaceans and lives in tight-knit social groups. Gumbs celebrates this species as a metaphor for Black endurance, brilliance, and beauty, thriving even when unrecognized. “Stay Black” is not only a call to survive, but to revel in one’s Blackness unapologetically. These whales, like Black people, exist beyond visibility and demand reverence. Staying Black is sacred, collective, and joyful.

Citation: "Melon-Headed Whale." NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/melon-headed-whale.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Melon-headed whales are robust small whales found primarily in deep, tropical waters worldwide. They are social animals and often occur in groups of hundreds to over 1,000 individuals. Learn more about the melon-headed whale.

# data[].attributes.body
Dugongs are serene grazers, moving slowly through seagrass meadows in warm, shallow waters. Gumbs offers them as a reminder to resist urgency and speed, especially in systems that demand overwork. “Slow down” means rejecting capitalism’s tempo and choosing intention over efficiency. Dugongs survive not by rushing, but by adapting gently. Gumbs affirms that slowness is not laziness, it’s wisdom.
Citation: "Dugong." NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/dugong.

# data[].attributes.body
Some marine mammals, like dolphins, sleep with only one hemisphere of their brain at a time, resting while staying alert. Gumbs meditates on this as both metaphor and reality: rest that resists complete disengagement, shaped by danger and adaptation. Rest, she insists, is not optional; it's liberation. In oppressive systems, choosing to rest is an act of rebellion. Like dolphins, we can rest while still swimming toward freedom.
Citation: “How Animals Sleep.” Sleep Foundation, https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/animal-sleep.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sleep Foundation and SleepFoundation.org are not affiliated with the National Sleep Foundation, an independent nonprofit based in Washington, DC.

# data[].attributes.body
Gumbs ends with the gray whale, known for its epic migrations and miraculous memory. These whales return to the same birthing lagoons year after year, guided by inherited maps. Taking care of your blessings, Gumbs suggests, means knowing where you came from, honoring what sustains you, and passing that care forward. Like gray whales protecting their calves, we must protect our dreams and our people. Blessings are not just gifts, they’re responsibilities.
Citation: "Gray Whale." NOAA Fisheries, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/gray-whale.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Once common throughout the Northern Hemisphere, gray whales are now only regularly found in the North Pacific Ocean where there are two extant populations, one in the eastern and one in the western North Pacific.

Gray whales earned the nickname "devil fish" because of their aggressive reactions when harpooned. Commercial whaling rapidly brought both Pacific populations to near extinction. International conservation measures were enacted in the 1930s and 1940s to protect whales from over-exploitation, and in the mid-1980s the International Whaling Commission instituted a moratorium on commercial whaling.

Gray whales are known for their curiosity toward boats in some locations and are the focus of whale watching and ecotourism along the west coast of North America. Gray whales make one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal, traveling about 10,000 miles round-trip and in some cases upwards of 14,000 miles. On their migration routes they face threats from vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and other sources of disturbance.

NOAA Fisheries works to conserve gray whales through collaborative management, integrated science, partnerships, and outreach. Our scientists use a variety of innovative techniques to study, protect, and rescue gray whales in distress (e.g., disentanglement and stranding response). We strive to reduce the harmful effects of human activities, such as fisheries interactions, noise, and pollution, through management actions based on science, public input, and public outreach.

Gray whales become sexually mature between 6 and 12 years, with the average of maturity being about 8 to 9 years old. After 12 to 13 months of gestation, females give birth to a single calf. Newborn calves are approximately 14 to 16 feet long and weigh about 2,000 pounds. The average and maximum lifespan of gray whales is unknown, although one female was estimated at 75 to 80 years old after death.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Once common throughout the Northern Hemisphere, gray whales are now only found in the North Pacific Ocean where there are two extant populations in the eastern and western North Pacific. Learn more about gray whales.