1988, most agencies had responded to the Commission's request 

 for information on their Fiscal Year 1988 and Fiscal Year 

 1989 marine mammal rssearch programs. In early 1989, the 

 Contractor will prepare a report summarizing the information 

 provided by the agencies. A copy of the report will be sent 

 to the agencies to verify the accuracy of reported data. 

 After verification, the Commission, in consultation with its 

 Committee of Scientific Advisors, will review the report and, 

 as appropriate, recommend actions to agencies for better 

 developing, focusing, and coordinating their research programs. 

 Copies of the final report will be provided to agencies 

 conducting or supporting marine mammal research and will be 

 available to other interested persons and organizations through 

 the National Technical Information Service. 



Distribution of Humpback Whales off the West Coast of 



Makalawena, Hawaii 



(M. Smultea, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, 



California) 



Increasing vessel traffic and other human activities 

 could affect the recovery of the endangered North Pacific 

 stock of humpback whales that breed and calve in nearshore 

 coastal waters off Hawaii by disrupting breeding and nursing 

 activities and thereby reducing reproductive success. Deter- 

 mining cause-effect relationships between human activities 

 and changes in breeding and nursing activities requires baseline 

 data on the behavior and distribution of whales in undeveloped 

 nearshore areas to compare with data acquired after the areas 

 are developed. Such pre-development information is not 

 available for currently developed areas in Hawaii. The 

 contractor is observing whales in the undeveloped area off 

 the west coast of Makalawena to establish a baseline on patterns 

 of habitat use by humpback whales and distribution of social 

 groupings. The report, which is expected in June 1989, will 

 provide information that can be used as the basis for detecting 

 possible future changes in distribution of whales resulting 

 from development of human activities in or near the study 

 area. 



Biology and Ecology of the Endangered Chinese River Dolphin 

 (B. Wuersig, Ph.D., Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss 

 Landing, California) 



The Chinese river dolphin ( Lipotes vexillifer ) , or baiji, 

 is one of only five species of river dolphins. Its survival 

 is in doubt because of human activities. In 1987, the 

 Commission provided support for the contractor to visit and 

 assist researchers from several Chinese universities in 

 developing a research plan to assess the movements and social 



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