110 



5. The MMPA should require that the disposition of beached/stranded marine 

 mammals be strictly regulated. 



The MMPA is unclear about the determination of the releasability of stranded or 

 injured animals. In fact, this ambiguity has allowed animals to be held captive for years 

 in substandard situations by facilities lacking permits or the ability to meet permitting 

 requirements. We believe that the process by which facilities receive animals and 

 determine their eventual fate must be made more stringent. Under no circumstances 

 should a facility be issued a permit to retain a stranded animal before that animal has 

 been evaluated as to its releasability. The evaluation itself should be carefully monitored 

 by federal agencies, especially when the species or stock involved is endangered, 

 threatened, or depleted. We endorse the provisions for beached/stranded animals in the 

 proposed regulations published by NMFS. 



6. The MMPA should be amended to prohibit invasive and lethal research on marine 

 mammals unless it will directly benefit the species in the wild. 



We recognize that, despite excellent efforts, many stranded animals that are treated at 

 public display facilities do unfortunately die. The bodies of these animals may provide 

 data critical to scientific advancement and the study of their tissues can provide valuable 

 information. However, we believe that there are very few circumstances that justify the 

 killing of healthy marine mammals in scientific studies. Invasive experiments are also 

 justified only under a limited set of circumstances. In both cases, we believe that such 

 research should be undertaken only when its results will directly benefit the species being 

 studied and no alternative, non-invasive methods exist. This may include basic research 

 that increases our understanding of the physiology and/or ecology of a species. 

 However, lethal and invasive research is extremely disruptive to wild populations and can 

 result in the unintentional deaths of both the animals being handled and in animals 

 involved in the social disruption, such as seal pups separated from their mothers when 

 researchers enter a rookery area. NMFS' proposed regulations contain a definition of 

 legitimate scientific research that is too broad and should be amended to limit its scope 

 and the potential for abuse. We again direct the Committee to the Bilirakis bill (H.R. 

 656), which contains language specifically addressing this issue, and which we fully 

 endorse. 



CONCLUSION 



Because of their aquatic environment, complex social structures, and intelligence, marine 

 mammals require special consideration in captivity and when interacting with humans. 

 The MMPA was designed to safeguard these special considerations. We believe that the 



