where endangered right whales calve and nurse their 
young during the winter months. The survey results 
were promising, and in 1992 the Navy transferred 
funds to the Commission to continue the program. 
The survey and related observation data are expected 
to indicate how ship and boat traffic in the coastal 
waters of northern Florida and southern Georgia may 
be affecting right whales and what might usefully be 
done to avoid or minimize possible adverse effects. 
Its results also will be used in a public education and 
awareness program which the Navy has instituted in 
cooperation with the local community. 
Health of Bottlenose Dolphins 
in Texas Coastal Waters 
(Bernd G. Wiirsig, Ph.D., Texas A & M Univer- 
sity, Galveston, Texas) 
In the winter and spring of 1992, unusually high 
numbers of bottlenose dolphins died in coastal waters 
and washed up on beaches in Texas. The National 
Marine Fisheries Service initiated an investigation, 
and as part of the study they contracted with the 
investigator to capture and assess the general health of 
a number of live animals in the area where the unusu- 
al mortalities had occurred. The Commission provid- 
ed supplemental funding to radiotag and track a sub- 
set of the live dolphins that were captured and re- 
leased. The tracking data are expected to indicate 
habitat-use patterns of the dolphins and where they 
might come into contact with potentially hazardous 
environmental contaminants. 
GENERAL 
Maintenance of the Smithsonian Institution’s 
Remington Kellogg Library 
(Irina A. Koretsky, Falls Church, Virginia) 
The Remington Kellogg Library at the Smithsonian 
Institution’s National Museum of Natural History is 
one of the nation’s largest repositories of marine 
mammal literature. The library holds many unique, 
difficult-to-find documents and is used by both profes- 
sional researchers and students. The library does not 
have a full-time librarian to catalog documents. As a 
temporary measure, the Commission provided funds 
to the contractor to integrate the backlog of reprints 
181 
Chapter X — Research and Studies Program 
into the library, to assemble related reprints for 
binding, and to upgrade and integrate the library’s 
holdings of literature from the Soviet Union. 
Illustration of a Field Guide 
to Marine Mammal Strandings 
(Valerie Lounsbury, Literature Research & 
Illustration, Salford, Ontario, Canada) 
Both live and dead stranded marine mammals can 
provide a valuable source of information on the 
natural history, status, and health of marine mammals. 
Recognizing that most strandings are investigated by 
volunteers with little or no formal training, the 
National Marine Fisheries Service contracted with a 
marine mammal expert to prepare a field guide on 
marine mammal strandings. The Commission provid- 
ed funds to illustrate the field guide. It is expected to 
be completed and made available to Regional Marine 
Mammal Stranding Networks early in 1993. 
Development of a Traveling Museum 
Exhibit on Ocean Conservation 
(Judith A. Gradwohl, Smithsonian Institution, 
Office of Sponsored Projects, 
Washington, D.C.) 
The Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Environ- 
mental Awareness and the National Museum of 
Natural History are developing a traveling exhibition 
called "Ocean Planet." The 5,000-square-foot exhibit 
will visit eight American cities to introduce millions 
of museum, aquarium, and science center visitors to 
environmental issues affecting oceans and the science 
underlying ocean conservation. Using descriptive 
panels, dioramas, videos, printed material, interactive 
computerized information stations, and theater, the 
exhibit will describe, among other things, the fields of 
marine anthropology, marine biology, fisheries 
biology, oceanography, and biogeochemistry. The 
Marine Mammal Commission provided a small 
amount of funds to assist in the early planning stages. 
