MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1995 



impeded implementation of the "new principles." In 

 1994 the Commission held an international workshop 

 on the subject. The purpose of this contract was to 

 provide partial support for one of the workshop 

 participants to coordinate preparation of a paper 

 describing the workshop findings and conclusions. 

 The paper is expected to be published in the spring 

 1996 edition of Ecological Applications . 



REVIEWS AND ANALYSES 



Identification of Key Components of 



Baleen Whale Habitats 



(Charles A. Mayo, Ph.D., Center for Coastal 



Studies, Provincetown, Massachusetts) 



The future of many marine mammal species and 

 populations depends, at least in part, on identifying 

 and protecting essential habitats and habitat compo- 

 nents. However, many marine mammal species, 

 particularly baleen whales, have distinct summer and 

 winter ranges, travel long distances during daily or 

 seasonal movements, and spend large percentages of 

 their time underwater where they are difficult to 

 observe. Consequently, the concepts and procedures 

 used to identify and describe essential habitats for land 

 mammals are not directly applicable to marine mam- 

 mals. To date only a few studies have been done to 

 determine the home ranges and habitat requirements 

 of cetaceans and to identify and determine the key 

 components of habitats essential to their well-being. 

 The contractor is reviewing available information to 

 (a) determine methods being used to obtain and 

 analyze data on baleen whale habitat-use patterns, 

 home range sizes and characteristics, and essential 

 habitat components; (b) identify critical uncertainties 

 concerning baleen whale habitat requirements, essen- 

 tial habitat components, and essential habitats; and (c) 

 ascertain the research that would be required to 

 resolve the critical uncertainties. The contract report 

 will be used by the Commission and its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors to determine and recommend steps 

 that should be taken by the responsible regulatory 

 agencies to identify and protect critical marine mam- 

 mal habitat, particularly for endangered humpback and 

 right whales. 



Analysis and Reporting of Data Concerning the 

 North Atlantic Humpback Whale Population 

 (David K. Mattilla, Center for Coastal Studies, 

 Provincetown, Massachusetts) 



Humpback whale populations were severely deplet- 

 ed by commercial whaling in the 20th century. 

 Although commercial exploitation of humpback 

 whales has been prohibited for more than 20 years, 

 there is little evidence that some stocks are recover- 

 ing, particularly in the North Atlantic and North 

 Pacific. In 1991 scientists from seven nations — 

 Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Great Britain, Canada, 

 the Dominican Republic, and the United States — 

 formed a consortium to conduct coordinated surveys, 

 photo-identification, and biopsy studies of humpback 

 whales in the North Atlantic. The program, called 

 Project YONAH ("Years of the North Atlantic Hump- 

 back Whale"), began in 1992. Project researchers 

 collected biopsy samples from about 2,600 individual 

 humpback whales and photographically identified at 

 least 2,500 individuals. The Commission provided 

 support in 1991 and 1993 to help plan and coordinate 

 the field work and to analyze and disseminate the 

 program results. This contract provided support for 

 data exchange among collaborators, data analysis, 

 report preparation, and other activities necessary to 

 complete and disseminate the results of the project. 

 The project will serve as a model for assessing and 

 monitoring the vital parameters of whale populations. 



Curation of the North Atlantic Humpback Whale 

 Photograph Collection and Associated Databases 

 (Judith M. Allen, College of the Atlantic, Bar 

 Harbor, Maine) 



As noted earlier, there are substantial uncertainties 

 regarding certain aspects of the life history, population 

 structure, and vital rates of endangered North Atlantic 

 humpback whales. Many of these uncertainties can be 

 resolved by photo-identification studies. Since 1975 

 at least 200 individuals and research groups have 

 contributed more than 15,000 photographs of North 

 Atlantic humpback whales to a central collection 

 maintained at the College of the Atlantic. This 

 contract provided partial support to evaluate the 

 quality of photographs in the collection and to link the 

 photograph database with related location, behavior, 

 and other data concerning the individual whales in the 



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