MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



Commission noted steps that had been taken to 

 increase funding in the United States and it requested 

 that the department also do all that it could to increase 

 funding for Canada's right whale recovery program. 



Northern Right Whales in the 

 Eastern North Pacific Ocean 



Historical whaling records indicate that a popula- 

 tion of right whales occurred in the eastern North 

 Pacific in waters south of Unimak Pass and Kodiak 

 Island, Alaska, during summer. Intensive whaling in 

 the mid- to late 1800s severely depleted the popula- 

 tion. There is little information on the population's 

 status through the early 1900s. Although about two 

 dozen right whales may have been killed during the 

 first third of this century, the population may have 

 been recovering during that period. By the late 1950s 

 and early 1960s it is estimated that several hundred 

 animals occurred in this population. However, 

 previously classified data concerning illegal whaling 

 by the former Soviet Union indicates that several 

 hundred right whales were taken from this population 

 during the mid-1960s. Fewer than 30 right whale 

 sightings, most involving one or two animals, have 

 been recorded in the eastern North Pacific between the 

 mid-1960s and mid-1990s, and the survival of this 

 population seems uncertain at this time. 



In the summer of 1996, and again in the summer 

 of 1997, however, one or more small groups of right 

 whales were sighted in the eastern Bering Sea. In 

 1996 one sighting was made of at least four animals. 

 In 1997 a group of five to nine animals was seen. To 

 determine the status of right whales in the southeast- 

 ern Bering Sea, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 and the Coast Guard made arrangements for a cooper- 

 ative survey during the summer of 1998. The Service 

 scheduled an aerial survey and the Coast Guard was 

 to make available a ship for sea-based observers. 

 Shortly before the survey was to begin, however, the 

 Coast Guard had to divert its vessel to another mis- 

 sion and thus, only the aerial portion of the survey 

 was conducted. During the survey a group of six 

 whales was sighted in the eastern Bering Sea in the 

 same area as the sightings made in 1996 and 1997. 

 All of the animals were adults with the exception of a 

 probable calf or juvenile seen in the 1996 sighting. 



During the Commission's 10-12 November 1998 

 annual meeting, it was noted that the Service was 

 considering plans to organize another joint survey 

 with the Coast Guard for the summer of 1999. 

 Therefore, in the 3 December 1998 letter to the Coast 

 Guard noted above, the Commission urged the Coast 

 Guard to make a vessel available for right whale 

 surveys in the Bering Sea in 1999 if the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service asked it to do so. 



Right Whale Litigation 



Litigation alleging various violations of the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, 

 and other laws has been important in shaping actions 

 by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Coast 

 Guard, and others to protect northern right whales. 

 The national campaign director of GreenWorld has 

 filed several lawsuits related to right whales. Action 

 in the following cases was taken in 1998. 



Strahan v. Linnon — This case began in June 

 1994, when the plaintiff filed suit alleging violations 

 of the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act, the National Environmental Policy 

 Act, and the Whaling Convention Act by the Coast 

 Guard, whose vessels had struck and killed two right 

 whales. The plaintiff contended that these incidents 

 constituted illegal takings and, unless enjoined, were 

 likely to continue. An initial ruling in this case in 

 May 1995 directed the Coast Guard to consult with 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service under section 7 

 of the Endangered Species Act, apply for an incidental 

 take authorization under the Marine Mammal Protec- 

 tion Act, and prepare an environmental assessment 

 under the National Environmental Policy Act. 



The plaintiff filed an amended complaint in June 

 1996 raising several new claims and adding officials 

 of the Department of Commerce as defendants. The 

 plaintiff contended that the biological opinion prepared 

 by the National Marine Fisheries Service for Coast 

 Guard activities, and the biological assessment upon 

 which it was based, were deficient. He also sought to 

 compel the National Marine Fisheries Service to take 

 other actions designed to conserve right whales. 



As discussed in the previous annual report, the 

 court issued a ruling in favor of the federal defendants 



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