19 



ed; two, that monitoring of right whale habitat begin immediately. 

 I think this is very important. It is very late in the game, after all. 

 Our knowledge of any change in the ecosystem will be only as good 

 as our description of conditions before the outfall is online. Accu- 

 rate study of the pre-outfall conditions and the response of the 

 whales and their resources must begin now. It should have begun a 

 long time ago. 



Three, that monitoring of the habitat and the plankton resources 

 associated with the whales' feeding area be made part of the dis- 

 charge permit and be tightly coordinated with the ongoing bay- 

 wide studies that have been referred to before; and finally, four, 

 that design of whale habitat studies be constructed to make use of 

 present knowledge of the species with respect to scale, distribution 

 and occurrence of feeding and non-feeding activities. 



In closing, the development of a good monitoring plan for right 

 whales, their resources and habitat may trap the unforeseen 

 changes and delicate balances on which these whales depend. Im- 

 plementation of such a plan will require haste, commitment, co- 

 ordination and funds and, last, the focused encouragement of offi- 

 cials from Federal, State and private agencies. 



Just a last comment. 



Mr. Studds. The red light does not apply to constituents of mine. 



Mr. Mayo. OK. I did not bring a video. I am sorry. Just a com- 

 ment though in closing, and that is that the right whale may 

 indeed be the canary in the mine. We often talk about that. Let me 

 point out that, if we do not listen to the canary, we do not hear 

 what it is telling us about the habitats of our precious bays. My 

 hope is that monitoring will give us at least some ear to hear what 

 they are saying about this system that is so important to us and to 

 the whales. 



Thank you. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Mayo can be found at the end of 

 the hearing.] 



Mr. Studds. Thank you. That was very eloquent. 



Ms. Alix Ritchie, speaking for the Cape Code Commission. Wel- 

 come. 



ALIX RITCHIE, CAPE COD COMMISSION 



Ms. Ritchie. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Kerry. Thank 

 you very much. Thank you for this hearing. My name is Alix 

 Ritchie. I am a member and the immediate past chair of the Cape 

 Cod Commission. I am also the President of the Association for the 

 Preservation of Cape Cod. I am pleased to be here today on behalf 

 of Barnstable County and the Cape Cod Commission, to comment 

 on the biological opinion. My remarks are based on an analysis 

 that has been performed for Barnstable County by a panel of five 

 scientists selected for their expertise and special qualification in 

 fields relevant to this review. 



The Federal Government has already highlighted the national 

 significance of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays by taking three 

 important actions: Designation of the Bays as an estuary of nation- 

 al significance; designation of Stellwagen Bank as a national 

 marine sanctuary, and thank you for that; and proposing the desig- 



