The announcements have been distributed to interested 

 scientists, resource managers, organizations, and concerned 

 individuals throughout the world to solicit international 

 participation in the Conference and to ensure a comprehensive, 

 global perspective on marine debris issues. 



Curation and Analysis of Specimen Material and Data Acquired 

 from Stranded Marine Mammals 



(J.E. Heyning, Ph.D., Natural History Museum of Los Angeles 

 County, Los Angeles, California) 



Much of the available information about marine mammal 

 anatomy, morphology, and rates and causes of mortality has been 

 obtained through recovery and examination of beached and 

 stranded animals. The contractor is organizing and analyzing 

 data and specimen material collected from stranded cetaceans 

 over the past ten years along the coast of southern California. 

 The contract reports, which are expected in 1989, will describe: 

 (1) the histopathology of cetaceans stranded along the 

 California coast; (2) evidence of cetacean strandings possibly 

 caused by interactions with fisheries; and (3) the apparent 

 relationships between two stocks of dolphins occurring offshore 

 Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California. Among other 

 things, the reports will help identify and illustrate the 

 value of organizing stranding networks. 



Key Words for Constructing and Searching Computer Files of 

 Marine Mammal Publications 



(D. Wartzok, Ph.D., The Society for Marine Mammalogy, Purdue 

 University, Fort Wayne, Indiana) 



The Marine Mammal Commission, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Minerals Management 

 Service, and professional organizations, such as the Society 

 for Marine Mammalogy, publish hundreds of reports and papers 

 each year bearing on the conservation and protection of marine 

 mammals. The value of these documents depends, in part, on 

 their accessibility. The purpose of this project is to develop 

 a standard list of key words or subject headings that can be 

 used to create and search computerized files of marine mammal 

 publications. The list will be provided to agencies, 

 organizations, and individuals maintaining computerized 

 bibliographies so that they can key their files to the standard 

 list. 



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