37 



and participants in the breeding programs for harbor seals, bottlenose dolphins and 

 beluga whales. 



Basic and applied scientific research bolsters the animal care and husbandry pro- 

 grams of the Aquarium. Studies have been conducted on the anatomy of sea otters, 

 ocular segment disease in wild fur seals, the vocal behavior of beluga whales, the 

 chemical composition of dolphin tear secretions, and the circulating levels of hor- 

 mones in beluga whales. Scientists working with the Aquarium have authored near- 

 ly 100 peer-reviewed studies since its opening in 1981. These studies have applica- 

 tion both to captive and wild populations, and to marine mammal rehabilitation pro- 

 grams. 



The Aquarium is an active member of the Northeast Region Marine Mammal 

 Stranding Network and is responsible for coordinating the rescue and care of 

 stranded marine mammals and sea turtles in the coastal areas of Virginia, Mary- 

 land, and Delaware. Aquarium Stranding Network workers respond to calls 24 

 hours a day to care for sick or injured wild animals. Assisting the professional 

 Aquarium medical staff are specially-trained paid and volunteer Aquarium staff 

 members. Collection of valuable data is one of the additional benefits of the Strand- 

 ing Network. 



This program is funded entirely through public donations and the operating reve- 

 nues of the Aquarium. The costs of the program can be significant. For example, 

 the attempted rehabilitation of a juvenile pilot whale in 1992 required the use of 

 over $47,000 in Aquarium resources. Currently, the Aquarium annually expends 

 over $100,000 in combined resources towards the rehabilitation of wild animals res- 

 cued through the Network. As I speak, they are rehabilitating a dwarf sperm whale 

 that was stranded iust before Thanksgiving of last year. I note that significant 

 amounts of plastic debris were found in the whale's stomach. As involvement and 

 public awareness expands, greater demands will be placed on the Network, thus the 

 dedication of additional resources will similarly increase. 



Mr. Chairman, I note that the Aquarium is but one of the many institutions 

 throughout our nation that are involved in this important work. I believe that we 

 need to ensure that their efforts, which are dedicated to the conservation of marine 

 mammals and their habitats, are recognized in the reauthorization of the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act for it to be truly effective. 



Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for calling this hearing and providing me with 

 an opportunity to say a few words. 



Mr. Studds. I thank our minority philosopher poet. The gen- 

 tleman from New Jersey. 



Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I noticed in the written 

 statements of Mr. Reynolds, he mentioned that there is no mecha- 

 nism to expedite permit issuance when necessary to protect or oth- 

 erwise benefit a species population or individual marine mammal 

 which is in jeopardy. And also I guess it was in Dr. Tyack's state- 

 ment he talked about a situation in Cape Cod with whales where 

 the NMFS was required to obtain permits to take the whales by 

 harassment and NMFS took a year to issue the permit and if the 

 scientists had not continued to rescue the whales illegally during 

 this year, whales might have died. 



I am not sure if this relates directly to my situation in New Jer- 

 sey, it may very well. Because I am not sure that the permit was 

 the issue, but we had a situation I guess a month or so ago where 

 we were trying to basically rescue dolphins in the Shrewsbury 

 River which is in my district, that had been caught in the ice. In 

 other words, I think it was at the end of December, I forget exactly 

 the date, and all of a sudden the waters froze very quickly and the 

 dolphins basically were not able to get out of the river. And re- 

 quests were made from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center 

 (Bob Schoelkopf); I think the stranding center is actually in Mr. 

 Saxton's district. Where they wanted permission essentially to use 

 certain nets to rescue the dolphins and take them out of the river 

 and NMFS would not allow that because apparently they had some 

 sort of a policy that said that if there was some way possible for 



