Atlas des mammifères sauvages de France volume 1

With the second largest exclusive economic zone in the world (in excess of 11 000 000 km²), the metropolitan and overseas territories of France are host to 71 species of marine mammals. This book – the first of a series focusing on the wild mammals of France – marks a considerable progress in knowledge on the distribution of the 16 Carnivora, 53 Cetartiodactyla and 2 Sirenia found in the French waters. It synthesizes over 90 000 observation data collected since 2000 by some thirty agencies.

This volume is organized in two complementary main sections. In the first, species monographs provide scientists and naturalists with up-to-date information on the distribution, biology, population dynamics, threats and ongoing monitoring and management actions for each species. In the second part, in order to meet the needs of managers and administrative authorities, geographical monographs offer a summarized presentation of nine oceanic regions and the species found in each of them: North-East Atlantic (metropolitan France), North-West Atlantic (Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon), Tropical Atlantic (French Antilles), Equatorial Atlantic (French Guiana), Tropical Indian Ocean (La Réunion, Mayotte and the Scattered Islands), Subtropical Indian Ocean and the north of the Southern Ocean (Saint-Paul, Amsterdam and the French subantarctic islands), Southern Ocean (Terre Adélie), South Pacific (New Caledonia, Wallis-and-Futuna, French Polynesia) and North Pacific (Clipperton).

The book also includes a summary of the different legal tools in place for the protection and conservation of these species.