work in the barnacle tag, a cheap and effective system 

 for deploying barnacle tags at distances beyond five 

 meters has not been and possibly cannot be developed. 

 Also, it has not been shown that either the projectile 

 or the barnacle tag will remain attached and function 

 properly for the periods of time (e.g. , one and a half 

 to eighteen months) necessary to obtain reliable movement 

 and related data or that radio tags will have no long-term 

 effects on the behavior or survival of the tagged whales; 



to resolve the uncertainties concerning the safety and 

 effectiveness of possible systems for long-term satel- 

 lite-linked tracking of large whales, studies should be 

 done to: (1) determine whether an Argos-certifiable 

 transmitter can be configured to fit into an existing 

 or slightly larger projectile housing and, if so, 

 whether the tag can be implanted without seriously 

 injuring the target animal or damaging the transmitter; 

 (2) develop and test systems for attaching barnacle-type 

 tags to free-swimming whales at distances beyond five 

 meters; and (3) determine how long both projectile and 

 barnacle tags will remain attached to various species of 

 large whales and whether the tags have any long-term 

 effects on behavior or survival; and 



field trials to determine retention times and possible 

 effects on long-term behavior or survival should be 

 carried out on cetacean species that can be individually 

 recognized from natural marks and in areas where 

 relatively large numbers of individually recognizable 

 whales are likely to be present and which can be 

 easily surveyed. 



The report from the workshop (see Montgomery 1987, Appendix 

 B) was published and provided to the Minerals Management 

 Service in April 1987. The Service is considering the workshop 

 recommendations and, in early 1988, is expected to issue a 

 request for proposals to undertake the studies described in 

 the workshop report. 



Program Review by the National Academy of Sciences 



When it was initiated in 1973, the Environmental Studies 

 Program focused on obtaining descriptive, baseline information 

 necessary to characterize outer continental shelf areas being 

 considered for leasing of tracts for oil and gas exploration 

 and development. The data from these studies contributed 

 relatively little to the decision-making process and, in 

 1976, the Bureau of Land Management (now the Minerals Management 

 Service) requested that the National Academy of Sciences 

 review and provide recommendations for improving the Environ- 

 mental Studies Program. The review was carried out by a 



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