The Biological Services Program was established within the U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service to supply scientific information and methodologies on 

 key environmental issues that impact fish and wildlife resources and their 

 supporting ecosystems. The mission of the program is as follows: 



• To strengthen the Fish and Wildlife Service in its role as 

 a primary source of information on national fish and wild- 

 life resources, particularly in respect to environmental 

 impact assessment. 



• To gather, analyze, and present information that will aid 

 decisionmakers in the identification and resolution of 

 problems associated with major changes in land and water 

 use. 



• To provide better ecological information and evaluation 

 for Department of the Interior development programs, such 

 as those relating to energy development. 



Information developed by the Biological Services Program is intended 

 for use in the planning and decisionmaking process to prevent or minimize 

 the impact of development on fish and wildlife. Research activities and 

 technical assistance services are based on an analysis of the issues, a 

 determination of the decisionmakers involved and their information needs, 

 and an evaluation of the state of the art to identify information gaps 

 and to determine priorities. This is a strategy that will ensure that 

 the products produced and disseminated are timely and useful. 



Projects have been initiated in the following areas: coal extraction 

 and conversion; power plants; geothermal , mineral and oil shale develop- 

 ment; water resource analysis, including stream alterations and western 

 water allocation; coastal ecosystems and Outer Continental Shelf develop- 

 ment; and systems inventory, including National Wetland Inventory, 

 habitat classification and analysis, and information transfer. 



The Biological Services Program consists of the Office of Biological 

 Services in Washington, D.C., which is responsible for overall planning and 

 management; National Teams, which provide the Program's central scientific 

 and technical expertise and arrange for contracting biological services 

 studies with states, universities, consulting firms, and others; Regional 

 Staffs, who provide a link to problems at the operating level; and staffs at 

 certain Fish and Wildlife Service research facilities, who conduct in-house 

 research studies. 



This report should be cited as follows: 



Irvine, A. B. , J. E. Caffin, and H. I. Kochman. 1981. Aerial Surveys 

 for manatees and dolphins in western peninsular Florida : with notes 

 on sightings of sea turtles and crocodiles. U. S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, Office of Biological Services, Washington, D. C. FWS/OBS- 

 80/50. 20 pp. 



