The role of the Marine Mammal Commission in developing a 

 comprehensive research plan and initiating efforts to 

 coordinate related bowhead whale research projects has been 

 described in its Annual Reports for Calendar Years 1977 

 through 1979. Acting on a Commission recommendation, the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service assumed responsibility in 

 1981 for annually organizing and convening the necessary 

 coordination meetings involving the agencies listed above. 

 The Service was unable to organize a program review/coordi- 

 nation meeting in 1986. The Minerals Management Service, 

 recognizing the importance of coordinating field studies to 

 the maximum extent practicable, held a meeting of principal 

 investigators prior to the beginning of the 1986 summer field 

 season to discuss and agree on procedures for coordinating 

 activities during the season. 



At its meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, on 2 8-3 October 

 1986, the Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors 

 reviewed research and other matters bearing upon the 

 conservation and protection of bowhead whales. As part of 

 the review, representatives of the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, the Minerals Management Service, the Alaska oil and 

 gas industry, and the North Slope Borough provided brief 

 summaries of research and other activities that have been 

 conducted and are planned by their respective organizations. 

 Among other things, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 indicated that the Service's research effort has focused 

 since 1985 on photo-identification and photogrammetric 

 studies to determine the population age structure and annual 

 recruitment rate of the Bering Sea bowhead whale population. 

 These studies are scheduled to be completed in 1987 and at 

 least a preliminary report is expected to be available for 

 the 1987 meeting of the International Whaling Commission. 



Minerals Management Service representatives noted that, 

 since 1978, the Service had supported a wide range of bowhead 

 studies including studies to determine: seasonal distri- 

 bution and abundance in or near areas that could be affected 

 by offshore exploration and development activities; the 

 possible effects of oil on baleen filtering efficiency; th^ 

 effects of seismic exploration on bowhead movement and 

 behavior; and the characteristics of potentially important 

 bowhead feeding areas in the eastern Beaufort Sea. They also 

 noted that in 1987 the Service planned to continue certain 

 survey and monitoring programs and to initiate additional 

 studies to: determine the behavior of a control group of 

 bowhead whales in the eastern Arctic (Davis Strait) not 

 exposed to OCS activity; assess the possible effects on 

 bowheads of sound generated by production platforms and 

 undersea pipelines; acquire and store bowhead tissues for 

 contaminant analysis; and investigate the adherence of oil to 

 the skin of bowhead whales. 



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