Abstract
Marine mammals in the world include 79 species of cetaceans, 34 speceis of pinnipeds, four species of sirenians, polar bear and sea otter. Of those, we can find 36 species of cetaceans, seven species of pinnipeds, dugong and sea otter in adjacent waters of Japan. The most dominant species are minke whale in baleen whales, finless porpoise and pacific white-sided dolphin in toothed whales. Recent sighting records of sea otter and dugong in coastal water are increasing. Present relationship between human and marine mammals can be divided into following five categories:1)stranding of marine mammals, 2)fishery activity which includes whaling, hunting and incidental take by fishing gear, 3)aquarium, 4)whale and dolphin watching, 5)field research and survey. In the view of wildlife medicine, the subjects we should pursuit are such as rescue of live stranded animals(which relates to 1 and 3 of those categories), management of wild marine mammal resource(2 and 5)and biological study of marine mammals(3, 4 and 5).
