Hector's dolphins are found in New Zealand waters, and Gulf 

 of California harbor porpoise are found in Mexican waters. Both 

 have been the appropriate focus of substantial international 

 attention. Thus, even though not found in U.S. waters, they are 

 briefly discussed in Chapter III as well. 



Probably the most serious domestic marine environmental 

 catastrophe of 1989 was the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It is 

 described in Chapter IV. In less than a day following the 24 

 March 1989 grounding of the tanker in Prince William Sound, 

 Alaska, an estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil were 

 released into the Sound. Subsequently, the oil spread over 

 nearly 10,000 square miles and contaminated an estimated 2,045 

 miles of shoreline in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of 

 Alaska. More than 1,000 sea otters and a number of other marine 

 mammals were killed in the spill. By letter and memorandum, the 

 Commission provided advice and direction to the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service with respect to 

 protecting threatened animals and documenting effects in the wake 

 of the spill. These are discussed in Chapter IV, as is the need 

 for profiting from the experience to better prevent and protect 

 against similar accidents. 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act directs the Commission to 

 review and provide advice to the Department of State and other 

 Federal agencies on U.S. participation in international efforts 

 affecting the conservation and protection of marine mammals. 

 Commission activities in this regard are discussed in Chapter V, 

 and in parts of Chapters II, III, IV, VII, and IX. Particularly 

 important among these activities were those related to the 

 International Whaling Commission and the Southern Ocean. 



Since its inception, the Marine Mammal Commission has helped 

 develop U.S. policy regarding whales and whaling. Commission 

 representatives have participated in meetings of the 

 International Whaling Commission (IWC) and its Scientific 

 Committee since the mid-1970s. Major issues in 1989 concerned 

 certain nations' compliance with conservation measures 

 established by the IWC, preparations for the comprehensive 

 assessment of the status of whale stocks to be undertaken by 

 1990, identification and evaluation of new procedures to set 

 catch quotas for commercial whaling, and review of proposals to 

 kill whales for scientific research purposes. 



In 1989, the Japanese Government issued its nationals a 

 permit to kill up to 330 minke whales in the Southern Ocean for 

 research purposes. Also of concern are the developing fisheries, 

 particularly the Antarctic krill fishery, and the possibility of 

 oil, gas, and other non-living resource development. These now 

 appear to pose substantial new threats to marine mammals. As 

 discussed in Chapter V, the Marine Mammal Commission continued to 

 provided in 1989 detailed advice to the Department of State and 



iv 



