during swimming, and relatively little 

 change in girth during diving. Further, 

 when physiological data are to be tak- 

 en, most important vital areas (lungs, 

 heart, brain) are nearby. 



In our opinion package volume 

 could be relativeh high, providing it is 

 weight compensated until nearly iso- 

 static. A baby whale might well carry 

 15-20 kg of instruments properly 

 housed and shaped to reduce drag. 

 Instrument placement is probably best 

 just above or between pectorals where 

 it would cause the least disequilibrium. 

 In these positions it would be most 

 difficult for the whale to rub the instru- 

 ments loose. Any such package, of 

 course, would have to be strongly 

 protected from impact and abrasion. 



The harness used here was designed 

 with a float at the top to suspend the 

 antenna with the harness hanging be- 

 low so that when cast off it rode easily 

 with the antenna in the vertical posi- 

 tion for good transmission. 



In conclusion, the first steps of whale 

 capture and instrumentation have been 

 taken, but much remains to be done 

 to transfer the methods to (I) long 

 term trackings. (2) other species which 

 must be caught and handled at sea, 

 and {}) adult whales. 



Jose Castello of the Consejo Nacional 

 Ciencias y Tecnologi'a, Mexico City; 

 and Jaime Dommguez and Mario 

 Camparan of the Escuela Superior de 

 Ciencias Marinas, Ensenada, Baja 

 California Norte, Mexico. 



We thank Frank Brocato for con- 

 sultation on whale capture and for 

 constructing much of our gear. 



We are especially grateful to Edwin 

 Janss and Richard Wheeler of the 

 Janss Foundation for support of the 

 field study. A National Aeronautics 

 and Space Administration subcontract 

 No. 23196 (NA.SA NAS2-68601 al- 

 lowed harness preparation. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Anonymous. In press. Report of Working 



Group on Bio. and Nail. Hist. In W. E. 



Schevill (editor). The Whale Problem. 



Harvard Press, Cambridge, pp .''-10. 

 Clarke, R. \^^1. Migrations of marine 



mammals. [In Engl, and Norw.] Nor. 



Hvalfangsl-Tid. 46:609-6.K). 

 Cousteau, J. Y. 1972. The whale. Mighty 



monarch of the sea. Doubleday &. Co., 



Garden City, .104 p. 

 Eberhardt. R. L., and K. S. Norns. 1964. 



Observations of newborn Pacific gray 



whales on Mexican calving grounds. J. 



Mammal. 4.S(1):88-9.S. 

 Rice, D. W.. and A. A. Wolman. 1971. 



The life history and ecology of the gray 



whale {Exchruiuiiis rohusiti.s). Am. Soc. 



Mammal.. Spec. Publ. No. .1, 142 p. 

 Spencer. M. P. 197.1. Scientific studies on 



the gray whales of Laguna Ojo de liebre 



(Scammon's Lagoon), Baja California, 



Mexico. Natl. Geogr. Soc. Res. Rep., 1966 



projects, p. 23-*'-25.1. 



MFR Paper 1059. From Marine Fisheries Review, Vol. 

 36, No. 4, April, 1974. Copies of this paper, in limited 

 numbers, are available from D83, Technical Information 

 Division. Environmental Science Information Center. 

 NOAA, Washington. DC 20235. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Permission to study the gray whale 

 came from both the Mexican and 

 United States governments, and many 

 people helped. Prominent were Carl 

 L. Hubbs of Scripps Institution of 

 Oceanography; George Gross, U.S. 

 Fisheries Attache, U.S. Embassy, 

 Mexico City; and Philip Roedel and 

 Robert Miller of National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. 

 Department of Commerce. We thank 

 our willing and skillful field crew: 

 Captain Tim Houshar and the crew 

 of the Louson, Richard Pierce, Ken- 

 neth Balcomb. and Thomas P. Dohl 

 of the University of California, Santa 

 Cruz; Gerald Kooyman of Scripps 

 Institution of Oceanography; Robert 

 Gibson oi the Franklin Institute Re- 

 search Laboratories. Philadelphia; 



Opposite. — Gigi II, witti transmitter affixed to 

 back, awaits release at sea off San Diego. Ptioto 

 by J. S. Leattierwood, courtesy of Naval Under- 

 sea Center. San Diego, Calif. 



Vf GPO 799 418 



64 



