154 



ward migration in the summer is from the Great South Channel; right whales 

 usually leave the Bays in April/May and move to the Great South Channel. 



P 4-30/1 6 (continuing to next page): There is no evidence for any significant 

 occurrence of right whales in Long Island Sound. Reeves et al. (1978) men- 

 tion four whales seen "off eastern Long Island Sound" in 1885, but these 

 were likely northbound migrants. See my earlier comment (pp. 6-7) relative to 

 right whales in Delaware Bay and Mid-Atlantic coastal waters. 



P 4-33/1 4-/L 6-8: Mackerel stocks declined along with herring during the pulse of 

 foreign distant-water-fleet fishing, also releasing sand lance from competition. 

 In addition, all three of these pelagic fish species probably prey on each others 

 eggs, larvae, and juveniles, so the interrelationships go beyond simple compe- 

 tition. 



p 4-41/1 2-4 (Question 8): Does not address the temporal overlap or non-overlap 

 of right whales and red tides. 



p 4-43/1 2: Geraci claimed that sub-lethal doses of brevitoxin weakened the dol- 

 phins and compromised their immune systems, so that they succumbed to a 

 variety of chronic pathogens. This was despite a lack of previous studies 

 demonstrating chronic immunosuppression (or any chronic effects) by biotox- 

 ins and positive brevitoxin assays (apparently being questioned themselves) in 

 only a few animals. Many more animals also had high body burdens of PCB's, 

 a known immunosuppressive, yet this was not implicated in the mortality. 

 There was also evidence (in the Smithsonian's data, apparently not published 

 as yet) for endocrine abnormalities in the dead animals, including a drastic 

 decrease in age at sexual maturity in females. PCB's are also known to affect 

 reproductive systems. Dr. Haebler at the EPA Narragansett Lab could provide 

 a much more thorough and knowledgeable critique of this evidence, but in my 

 opinion it is not convincing enough to warrant inclusion in the Assessment. 



p 4-46/1 l/L 10-11: Source for statement on shallow-water foraging by logger- 

 heads? CETAP (1982) and Shoop and Kenney (1992) showed loggerheads 

 broadly distributed across much of the shelf. 



p 4-47/5 7: Why are the measurements in this paragraph only in units of ml/L? 

 They should have been converted to mg/L so as to be comparable to the other 

 data reported. 



P 4-51/1 5/L 4-5: Source for statement on impermeable integument of cetaceans 

 and sea turtles? 



15 



