MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1995 



The National Marine Fisheries Service's directed 

 research program has two principal elements: (1) ship- 

 supported studies of krill and related oceanographic 

 conditions in the waters near Elephant Island (part of 

 the Bransfield Strait Integrated Study Area noted 

 earlier); and (2) land-based studies of penguins and 

 seals on Seal Island (a small island off the northwest 

 coast of Elephant Island) that could be affected 

 indirectly by krill harvesting in the Elephant Island 

 area. Between mid-January and early March 1995, 

 the NOAA R/S Surveyor carried out seven surveys to 

 document and determine seasonal and inter-annual 

 variation in krill distribution and abundance and 

 related oceanographic features in the vicinity of 

 Elephant Island. Average krill abundance was about 

 one-third that found during the previous three field 

 seasons. Mostly older age classes were found, 

 indicating relatively poor recruitment since the 

 1990/1991 year class. The poor recruitment in the 

 past three years appears linked to less than normal 

 winter sea ice in the Antarctic area during this period. 



Land-based studies of penguins and seals on Seal 

 Island were conducted from December 1994 through 

 February 1995. Births and growth rates of fur seal 

 pups were lower than in previous years. However, 

 the average weight of pups was similar to that in 

 previous years, suggesting that their mothers were 

 able to find sufficient food to produce normal quanti- 

 ties of milk for nursing. The number of breeding 

 chinstrap penguins present was lower than in all past 

 years except 1990/1991 and the number of breeding 

 macaroni penguins present was the lowest yet ob- 

 served on Seal Island. Fledgling success for chinstrap 

 chicks was the second highest ever recorded on the 

 island, suggesting an adequate food supply offshore. 



The R/V Surveyor was decommissioned in 1995. 

 In October 1995 the National Oceanic and Atmo- 

 spheric Administration's Office of Corp Operations, 

 which operates the agency's fleet of ships, contracted 

 a Russian research vessel, the R/V Yuzhmorgeologiya, 

 to conduct a series of krill and other studies in the 

 Bransfield Strait area beginning in 1996. 



heavy rains and earthquakes could lead to landslides 

 and tidal waves that could destroy the camp. Also as 

 noted in the Commission's previous annual report, 

 participants in a meeting convened by the Department 

 of State on 14 November 1994 advised that the Seal 

 Island research program be transferred to a safer site 

 as soon as possible and that site selection should take 

 into account the results of oceanographic modeling 

 and other related studies being done by the National 

 Science Foundation grantees. Participants in the 

 meeting also advised that efforts to implement the 

 Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine 

 Living Resources might be enhanced by involving 

 scientists from U.S. academic institutions in both the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service's directed research 

 program and the work of the Convention's Scientific 

 Committee and its subsidiary bodies. 



There was insufficient time at the 14 November 

 1994 meeting to identify and fully consider all of the 

 steps that might be taken to improve implementation 

 of both the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources 

 Research Program and the Convention for the Conser- 

 vation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Conse- 

 quently, the Department of State, in consultation with 

 the Commission, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, and the National Science Foundation, held a 

 second meeting of government and academic scientists 

 on 22 June 1995 to seek advice on a variety of issues 

 regarding implementation of the Living Resources 

 Convention and the National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice's directed research program. 



Among other things, the meeting participants noted 

 that land-based studies of krill predators were an 

 essential component of the Living Resources Conven- 

 tion's ecosystem monitoring program. They advised 

 that the Seal Island research program be reestablished 

 at a new site as soon as possible and that the new site 

 be as far south as possible, within the area where krill 

 fishing normally occurs in the Antarctic Peninsula 

 area, to allow further collaboration with the Palmer 

 Station Long-Term Ecological Research Program 

 being supported by the National Science Foundation. 



As noted in the Commission's previous annual 

 report, an assessment of the Seal Island study site 

 done during the 1993-1994 austral summer indicated 

 that the support camp was located in an area where 



By the end of 1995 the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service had not yet decided where to relocate the Seal 

 Island research program. Counts of fur seals and 

 penguins and the weighing of a small sample of fur 



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