Serious Injury Determinations for Small Cetaceans off the Southeast U.S. Coast, 2018–2022

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requires NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to distinguish between injuries to marine mammals that are serious and not serious, where a “serious injury” is defined as an injury that is more likely than not to lead to the death of the animal. NMFS has issued a policy directive and procedural directives to establish a process for distinguishing serious from non-serious injuries (NMFS 2012, 2023). This document summarizes serious injury determinations for small cetaceans in southeast U.S. waters during 2018–2022.