tagging, and tracking harbor porpoise in central California. 

 The results to date of that study indicate that harbor porpoise 

 are able to detect and avoid live-capture weirs. This contract 

 provides for further study of harbor porpoise responses to 

 different types of net structure and lines to determine if 

 the responses suggest ways to alter fishing gear or practices 

 to reduce incidental mortality in set net fisheries. The 

 report, to be submitted by 30 September 1988, will be reviewed 

 by the Commission, in consultation with its Committee of Scien- 

 tific Advisors, to determine how the results might be applied 

 to reduce incidental mortality in set net fisheries in Cali- 

 fornia and elsewhere. 



Isolation and Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA from Tissues Col- 

 lected from Stranded Pilot Whales 



(R.L. Honeycutt, Ph.D., Harvard University, Cambridge, Massa- 

 chusetts) 



Effective conservation often requires knowledge of whether 

 animals from different geographic areas are from the same or 

 different breeding populations. Work at the University of 

 Michigan, supported by the Commission in the past, indicates 

 that analysis of mitochondrial DNA may be useful for identifying 

 discrete populations of bottlenose dolphins. To determine if 

 the technique may also be useful with other species, the Com- 

 mission in 1987 provided funds to assist the contractor in 

 isolating and analyzing mitochondrial DNA from tissues collected 

 from pilot whales stranded along the east coast of the United 

 States from 1981 through 1986. If this preliminary study 

 suggests that mitochondrial DNA might be useful in differen- 

 tiating pods and stocks of pilot whales, the Commission, in 

 consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, will 

 recommend that the National Marine Fisheries Service provide 

 support to analyze samples from past and future stranding 

 events to help determine the most reasonable pilot whale manage- 

 ment units. 



Radio-tagging and Release of Rehabilitated Pilot Whales S tranded 

 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in December 1986 



(New England Aquarium, Boston, Massachusetts; B.R. Mate, Ph.D., 

 Oregon State University, Newport, Oregon) 



In December 1986, three young pilot whales from a mass 

 stranding of pilot whales on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, were 

 brought to the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts, 

 for rehabilitation. By June 1987, the animals were judged 

 healthy and suitable for reintroduction to the wild. Although 

 substantial effort has been devoted in the United States, 

 Australia, and elsewhere to rescuing, rehabilitating and/or 

 returning live-stranded pilot whales to the sea, it is not 



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