ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION 

 CALENDAR YEAR 1988 



I . Introduction 1 



Background 1 



Personnel 1 



Funding 2 



The Report 2 



II. Reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act... 7 



Background 7 



Interim Exemption for Commercial Fishing 9 



Status Reviews and Conservation Plans 11 



The Tuna-Porpoise Program 11 



Research, Display, and Enhancement Permits 13 



Authorization of Appropriations 14 



Miscellaneous Amendments 14 



Reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act.... 14 



III . Species of Special Concern 16 



West Indian Manatee ( Trichechus manatus) 16 



West African Manatee ( Trichechus senegalensis ) . . .30 

 The California Sea Otter Population 



( Enhydra lutris ) 3 2 



Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi ) 39 



North Pacific Fur Seal ( Callorhinus ursinus ) 45 



Stellar Sea Lion ( Eumetopias jubatus ) 53 



Humpback Whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) 56 



Right Whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ) 62 



Bowhead Whale ( Balaena mysticetus ) 65 



Hector ' s Dolphin ( Cephalorhynchus hector i ) 68 



Gulf of California Harbor Porpoise 



(Phocoena sinus ) 69 



River Dolphins (Superfamily Platanistoidea) 71 



Polar Bear ( Ursus maritimus ) 73 



IV. Die-Off of Bottlenose Dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) . . .77 



Background 77 



Population Status 81 



Follow-on Activities 82 



V. International Aspects of Marine Mammal 



Protection and Conservation 84 



Conservation and Protection of Marine 



Mammals in the Southern Ocean 84 



International Whaling Commission (IWC) 101 



Cartagena Convention 114 



Convention on International Trade in 

 Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and 



Flora (CITES) 117 



Arctic Research and Policy 119 



