Chapter X 
RESEARCH AND STUDIES PROGRAM 
The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires that 
the Marine Mammal Commission maintain a continu- 
ing review of research programs conducted or pro- 
posed to be conducted under the authority of the Act; 
undertake or cause to be undertaken such other studies 
as it deems necessary or desirable in connection with 
marine mammal conservation and protection; and take 
every step feasible to prevent wasteful duplication of 
research. To accomplish these tasks, the Commission 
conducts an annual survey of Federally-funded marine 
mammal research; reviews research plans and pro- 
grams and recommends steps that should be taken to 
prevent unnecessary duplication and improve the 
quality of research conducted or supported by the 
National Marine Fisheries Service, the Fish and 
Wildlife Service, the Minerals Management Service, 
and other Federal agencies; convenes meetings and 
workshops to review, plan, and coordinate marine 
mammal research; and contracts for studies to help 
identify, define, and develop solutions to domestic and 
international problems affecting marine mammals and 
their habitats so as to facilitate and complement other 
agencies’ activities. 
Survey of Federally-Funded 
Marine Mammal Research 
Research directly or indirectly relevant to the 
conservation and protection of marine mammals and 
their habitat is conducted or supported by many 
Federal departments and agencies. To determine the 
precise nature of this research, assess ways in which 
it can best be used to facilitate marine mammal 
conservation and protection, and prevent wasteful 
duplication, the Commission annually requests and 
reviews information on the marine mammal research 
programs being conducted, supported, and planned 
elsewhere in the Federal Government. 
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In 1992 the Commission requested information 
from 20 Federal agencies, departments, and offices. 
They were the Department of Agriculture; the Depart- 
ment of the Air Force; the Department of the Army; 
the Department of the Navy; the Department of 
Energy; the Department of State; the Environmental 
Protection Agency; the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration; the National Institutes of 
Health; the National Science Foundation; the Smithso- 
nian Institution; the Coast Guard; the Department of 
the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service, Minerals 
Management Service, and National Park Service; and 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- 
tion’s National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of 
Ocean and Coastal Resources Management, Coastal 
Monitoring and Bioeffects Assessment Division, 
National Ocean Pollution Program Office, and Nation- 
al Sea Grant College Program. 
By December 1992 responses to requests for 
information concerning projects undertaken in FY 
1992 and planned for FY 1993 had been received 
from most of the agencies. This information will be 
summarized early in 1993 and made available in the 
Commission-sponsored report “Survey of Federally- 
Funded Marine Mammal Research and Studies.” (For 
earlier reports, see Appendix B, Waring 1981-1992.) 
Research Program Reviews, 
Workshops, and Planning Meetings 
In 1992 the Commission, in consultation with its 
Committee of Scientific Advisors on Marine Mam- 
mals, reviewed, commented on, and/or made recom- 
mendations on matters concerning bottlenose dolphins; 
harbor porpoises off Washington, Oregon, Alaska, 
and New England; harbor seals; Hawaiian monk seals; 
humpback whales; gray whales; killer whales; north- 
ern fur seals; polar bears; right whales; sea otters in 
