MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



tlon, convened a meeting of the group that had been 

 constituted earlier in the year to review and provide 

 advice on the Service's efforts to determine the cause 

 of the unusually high numbers of bottlenose dolphins 

 found washed up on beaches along the northern Gulf 

 of Mexico earlier in the year. The purposes of the 

 meeting were to review the results of the 1990 bottle- 

 nose dolphin die-off investigation, provide advice on 

 measures that could be taken to be better prepared to 

 respond to similar die-offs in the future, and consider 

 how best to utilize a special $400,000 Congressional 

 appropriation. 



Meeting participants included representatives of the 

 Marine Mammal Commission, the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, several academic institutions, the 

 Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the Environmen- 

 tal Protection Agency, the Naval Oceans Systems 

 Center, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Meeting 

 participants identified ways that the $400,000 special 

 appropriation could be used to improve the Regional 

 Marine Mammal Stranding Networks. They noted, 

 for example, that part of the supplemental appropria- 

 tion could be used to prepare and distribute kits to 

 respond to unusual mortalities. The kits included data 

 forms, as well as specimen bags, labels, knives, and 

 other equipment and supplies needed to collect basic 

 morphological data and tissue samples from routine 

 strandings. 



The group noted that animals decompose rapidly 

 after dying and that successfully determining the cause 

 of unusual mortality events often requires obtaining 

 and collecting samples from animals soon after they 

 die. It recommended that the National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service develop standard protocols for doing post- 

 mortem examinations of, and collecting tissue samples 

 from, dead stranded marine mammals. It also recom- 

 mended that the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 consider entering into agreements with veterinary 

 schools or other organizations in each of its regions to 

 conduct necropsies and collect standard sets of tissue 

 samples and other data from marine mammals recov- 

 ered during unusual mortality events. The group 

 constituted four ad hoc subgroups to draft standard 

 protocols for collecting general biological and life 

 history information, conducting gross necropsies, and 

 collecting samples for histopathology, microbiology, 

 and toxicology analyses. It was agreed that the group 



would meet again early in April 1991 to review: 

 (I) the draft protocols; (2) the results of the 1990 Gulf 

 of Mexico die-off investigation; and (3) the results of 

 ongoing efforts to develop an effective die-off re- 

 sponse plan. 



To facilitate identification and consideration of 

 related issues, the Commission developed a discussion 

 paper on "Development of a Coordinated Interagency 

 Marine Mammal Monitoring and Emergency Re- 

 sponse Plan." The paper was sent to the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, the Enviroimiental Protec- 

 tion Agency, the Minerals Management Service, and 

 other relevant agencies on 26 February 1991. The 

 paper described the problems that had impeded 

 investigation of the previously noted marine mammal 

 die-offs. It identified seven things that could be done 

 to more effectively identify and be prepared to investi- 

 gate such die-offs in the future: (1) evaluate and 

 improve operation of the Regional Marine Mammal 

 Stranding Networks; (2) design and implement a 

 program to determine and monitor the levels, sources, 

 and effects of environmental contaminants present in 

 a representative sub-set of marine mammals inhabiting 

 U.S. coastal waters; (3) review available information 

 and conduct such additional studies as may be neces- 

 sary to determine what and how natural biotoxins may 

 be contributing to unusual marine mammal mortali- 

 ties; (4) design and conduct studies to improve basic 

 knowledge of the types and etiology of bacteria, 

 viruses, parasites, and other pathogens that affect 

 marine mammals and of means for diagnosing and, as 

 appropriate, treating or preventing highly contagious 

 and debilitating diseases; (5) establish a contingency 

 fund and an expert advisory group to assist in devel- 

 oping and implementing contingency plans; (6) expand 

 basic population studies to obtain baseline information 

 necessary to judge the biological significance of 

 unusual mortality events; and (7) constitute an inter- 

 agency task force, with representatives from the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agen- 

 cy, the Minerals Management Service, the Animal and 

 Plant Health Inspection Service, and the Armed 

 Forces Institute of Pathology, to agree on a plan for 

 cooperatively implementing the required programs. 



On 8 April 1991, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service convened another meeting of the group 



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