Chapter VII — Marine Mammal Strandings and Die-Offs 



and Alaska. The networks are staffed by volunteers 

 who participate under terms and conditions set forth 

 in letters of authorization from the Service. The 

 Service has designated one person in each of its 

 regional offices to coordinate collection and dissemi- 

 nation of information about marine mammal strandi- 

 ngs. In 1994, the last year for which reports are 

 complete, the regional networks reported strandings of 

 2,309 pinnipeds, 1,533 cetaceans, 203 manatees, and 

 126 sea otters in the United States. 



The regional networks provide the principal means 

 for detecting and initiating investigation of unusual 

 marine mammal mortality events, as well as gathering 

 basic information on the species, number, age, sex, 

 and general condition of live and dead strandings in 

 different geographic locations. 



Response to 

 Unusual Mortality Events 



The deaths of hundreds of bottlenose dolphins 

 along the U.S. mid- Atlantic coast in 1987-1988, 

 followed by the deaths of thousands of harbor seals in 

 the North Sea and striped dolphins in the Mediterra- 

 nean Sea, raised concerns worldwide about the health 

 of marine mammal populations and the oceans in 

 which they live. In partial response to this concern, 

 Congress enacted the Oceans Act of 1992. Among 

 other things, the Act added a new title to the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act: Title IV — Marine Mammal 

 Health and Stranding Response. This new title 

 directed the Secretary of Commerce to (1) establish a 

 marine mammal unusual mortality event working 

 group to provide advice on measures necessary to 

 better detect and respond appropriately to future 

 unusual marine mammal mortality events, (2) develop 

 a contingency plan for guiding response to such 

 events, (3) establish a fund to compensate persons for 

 certain costs incurred in responding to unusual mortal- 

 ity events, (4) develop objective criteria for determin- 

 ing when rehabilitated marine mammals can be 

 returned to the wild, (5) continue development of the 

 National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank (described in 

 previous Marine Mammal Commission annual re- 

 ports), and (6) establish and maintain a central data- 

 base for tracking and accessing data concerning 

 marine mammal strandings. 



The Secretary of Commerce delegated responsibili- 

 ty for implementing these directives to the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service. As directed, the Service, 

 in consultation with the Commission and the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, established a working group in 1993 

 to advise on measures necessary to better detect and 

 respond to unusual marine mammal mortality events. 

 The group held its first meeting on 1-2 April 1993 

 and met again on 15 March 1994 and on 3-4 April 

 1995. A member of the Marine Mammal Commis- 

 sion staff serves on the working group. 



Development of a National Contingency Plan 



As noted in the Commission's previous annual 

 report, the National Marine Fisheries Service in June 

 1994 requested comments on its Draft National 

 Contingency Plan for Response to Unusual Marine 

 Mammal Mortality Events. The Commission, in 

 consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, 

 reviewed and provided comments on the draft on 12 

 September 1994. The Service revised the draft to take 

 account of comments provided by the Commission 

 and others and distributed the revision to the Commis- 

 sion and members of the unusual mortality event 

 working group on 1 February 1995 for review. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Commit- 

 tee of Scientific Advisors, reviewed the revised draft 

 and by letter of 21 March 1995 provided comments to 

 the Service. The Commission noted that the revision 

 appeared to identify most actions that could and 

 should be taken to respond appropriately to unusual 

 marine mammal mortality events in U.S. waters. The 

 Commission pointed out, however, that the plan was 

 not formatted so as to make it easy to use. It provid- 

 ed an outline illustrating how the plan might be 

 reformatted to make it more useful. 



Members of the working group also provided 

 comments on the revised draft. A final proofing draft 

 of the contingency plan was developed, taking into 

 account comments provided by the Commission and 

 the working group. This final draft was forwarded to 

 the working group members on 29 June 1995 for final 

 review. At the end of 1995 it was the Commission's 

 understanding that the contingency plan had been 

 completed but, because of Fiscal Year 1996 funding 

 uncertainties, had not been printed and distributed. 



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