agricultural runoff, industrial effluents; live-capture and 

 removal of animals for purposes of public display and scientific 

 research; illegal shooting; and whale and porpoise watching and 

 feeding. Participants also noted that marine mammals and sea 

 turtles and the ecosystems of which they are a part could be 

 affected by natural events such as red tides, hurricanes, and 

 climate change. 



Workshop participants concluded that the basic biology, 

 ecology, and demography of most marine mammal species inhabiting 

 the Gulf of Mexico either are unknown or are poorly known. They 

 also noted that the extent to which marine mammals in the Gulf 

 have been or are being affected by coastal and offshore 

 development, commercial fisheries, environmental pollution, other 

 human activities, and natural variables is not known. The 

 following were determined to be the most critical research needs: 



Assessing and developing programs to detect and 

 monitor the effects of human activities on the 

 endangered sperm whale and other cetaceans 

 throughout the Gulf of Mexico; 

 — Determining and monitoring levels of environmental 

 contaminants and natural biotoxins in repre- 

 sentative marine mammals in the Gulf; 

 Determining and monitoring the number and species 

 of marine mammals being caught and killed 

 incidentally in commercial fisheries in the Gulf; 

 Determining and monitoring the demography and dynamics 

 of bottlenose dolphin populations in the Gulf; 

 Completing bottlenose dolphin stock discreteness 

 studies; 



Evaluating and improving the Gulf of Mexico Marine 

 Mammal Stranding Network; and 



Characterizing and monitoring key components of 

 important marine mammal habitats in the Gulf. 



To follow up on some of the Workshop findings, on 30 August 

 1989, the Commission wrote to the Minerals Management Service 

 focusing on some of the preliminary conclusions of the Workshop 

 participants. In its letter, the Commission pointed out that 

 Workshop participants had concluded: (1) that much of what is 

 known about the diversity, relative abundance, basic biology, and 

 general health of marine mammals in the northern Gulf of Mexico 

 has been derived from studies of live and dead stranded animals; 

 and (2) that studies of beached and stranded animals might also 

 usefully contribute to (a) assessing and monitoring the fate and 

 effects of environmental contaminants on marine mammals and other 

 components of the marine ecosystem, and (b) determining and 

 monitoring the species and numbers of marine mammals being caught 

 and killed incidentally during commercial fishing operations in 

 the Gulf of Mexico. 



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