25.2 Important Marine Mammal Areas and Other
Cetacean Critical Areas Within the Alboran Sea
The IUCN expert group for marine mammals has identified a set of KBAs known as
Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), which are defined as “discrete portions
of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be
delineated and managed for conservation” (Corrigan et al. 2014; Hoyt 2015).
Currently, the IMMAs have no status, and their proposal as protected areas has to
be made by the coastal countries that have the authority to implement it. Some
IMMAs described in different basins (IMMA group 2020) overlap, and the Alboran
Sea represents an example regarding this, since the entire basin and its adjacent areas
(e.g. Strait of Gibraltar) host four different IMMAs (Fig. 25.2) known as Alboran
Corridor IMMA, Alboran Deep IMMA, Alboran Sea IMMA and Strait of Gibraltar
and Gulf of Cádiz IMMA. Thus, within the Alboran Sea, IMMA areas cover a large
proportion of the Alboran Sea, overlapping. Table 25.1 shows the area covered by
each IMMA and the main marine mammals for which each IMMA has been
delineated. For more details on the biology of those cetaceans, and of the main
threats within the Alboran Sea, please consult Báez et al. (see Chap. 21 of this book).
Fig. 25.2 Location of the four Important Marine Mammal Areas from the Alboran Sea and
adjacent areas: Alboran Corridor IMMA, Alboran Deep IMMA, Alboran Sea IMMA and Strait
of Gibraltar and Gulf of Cádiz IMMA (Source: IUCN MMPATF Important Marine Mammal Area)
828
Á. Mateo-Ramírez et al.
Cetacean Critical Areas Within the Alboran Sea
The IUCN expert group for marine mammals has identified a set of KBAs known as
Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), which are defined as “discrete portions
of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be
delineated and managed for conservation” (Corrigan et al. 2014; Hoyt 2015).
Currently, the IMMAs have no status, and their proposal as protected areas has to
be made by the coastal countries that have the authority to implement it. Some
IMMAs described in different basins (IMMA group 2020) overlap, and the Alboran
Sea represents an example regarding this, since the entire basin and its adjacent areas
(e.g. Strait of Gibraltar) host four different IMMAs (Fig. 25.2) known as Alboran
Corridor IMMA, Alboran Deep IMMA, Alboran Sea IMMA and Strait of Gibraltar
and Gulf of Cádiz IMMA. Thus, within the Alboran Sea, IMMA areas cover a large
proportion of the Alboran Sea, overlapping. Table 25.1 shows the area covered by
each IMMA and the main marine mammals for which each IMMA has been
delineated. For more details on the biology of those cetaceans, and of the main
threats within the Alboran Sea, please consult Báez et al. (see Chap. 21 of this book).
Fig. 25.2 Location of the four Important Marine Mammal Areas from the Alboran Sea and
adjacent areas: Alboran Corridor IMMA, Alboran Deep IMMA, Alboran Sea IMMA and Strait
of Gibraltar and Gulf of Cádiz IMMA (Source: IUCN MMPATF Important Marine Mammal Area)
828
Á. Mateo-Ramírez et al.