to occur in the winter, but precisely when and where are 

 unknown. A few scattered sightings suggest that the whales 

 may spend the winter months in waters off Georgia and 

 northern Florida. However, the significance of these 

 sightings and the nature and extent of possible wintering/calving 

 grounds are unknown. The purpose of this project is to 

 develop a sighting/reporting network to facilitate acquisition 

 of information on the presence, abundance, distribution, and 

 movements of right whales in the coastal waters of Georgia 

 and northern Florida. Such information is necessary to 

 determine whether offshore oil and gas development or other 

 human activities in the area might adversely affect right 

 whales and, if so, how the effects might be mitigated. 



Identification of Possible Differences in the Hardiness 

 of Bottlenose Dolphins from Different Coastal Areas of 

 the Southeastern United States 

 (J. E. Reynolds III, Eckerd College) 



Bottlenose dolphins have been and are being taken from 

 a number of coastal areas of the United States for purposes 

 of both public display and scientific research. It appears 

 that animals from some areas do not survive as well in 

 captivity as do animals from other areas, which suggests 

 that there may be area-specific differences in capture, 

 transport, or holding procedures or that animals from some 

 areas are healthier or hardier than those from others. This 

 in turn suggests the possibility of between-area differences 

 in population fitness or, alternatively, between-area differences 

 in either pre- and/or post-capture stress or environmental 

 quality. The contractor is obtaining and reviewing capture 

 records and oLher relevant data to: determine whether and, 

 if so, to what extent survival of bottlenose dolphins i'n 

 captivity is dependent upon the area from which they were 

 taken; identify environmental contaminants or other variables 

 that could be responsible for either documented or possible 

 area-related differences in post-capture survival; determine 

 whether bottlenose dolphins could be used to help monitor 

 the health of certain coastal ecosystems; and determine 

 what, if any, steps should be taken to monitor or improve 

 the general health of local populations, including develop- 

 ment of standard tests for assessing the health of captured 

 animals . 



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