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brought to bear on the culprits, all major whales will vanish from 

 this globe. 



The possibility of this happening is real enough, as evidenced by 

 the loss of the Korean herd of California gray whales and the ex- 

 tremely limited stocks of bowhead whales and their near relatives, the 

 right whales. These species, which figured so prominently in 17th and 

 18th centuiy whaling, have failed even today to come back, notwith- 

 standing the fact that they are presently banned from whaling (1937) . 



I would like to go on record as pointing out that the population 

 scientist, the International Whaling Commission, and those employed 

 in various governmental agencies throughout the world, have beauti- 

 fully mirrored the decline of whaling stocks and have hastened the 

 eventual ill health of the whaling industry by rapid finding, killing, 

 and butchering of whales. They have, also, pursued these limited re- 

 searches to the point of absurdity. Such studies would not gain or 

 warrant publication in truly competitive scientific journals. 



I introduce this evidence, not to censure their basic findings, but to 

 establish their repetition and wastefulness and failure to develop 

 meaningful studies based on the living whale. 



Insofar as other marine mammals, exploitation principles should 

 depend on, first, having adequate study of the living animal and its 

 ecological relationships, so that sound management practices could 

 ensue. 



I cannot, in my own conscience, see the need to adorn the human 

 body with wild pelts when we can do better with synthetics. 



In this connection, there is new information developing in Cali- 

 fornia on the interconnection of the sea otter in its role in maintaining 

 the natural beds of kelp which fringe the rocky shores from Alaska 

 to Baja California. The kelp has undergone considerable decline in 

 areas of abundance, and this is believed to be due to the overpopula- 

 tion of sea urchins which destroy the new kelp plants. 



Extensive manipulation of the ecological system involving pesti- 

 cides for sea urchins has proved to have many deleterious effects of 

 other inhabitants of the kelp, and it now appears that the sea otter 

 provided nature's method of control. 



I believe that I would like to also go on record as pointing out that 

 a moratorium on the slaughter of animals should not be construed as 

 the final solution to these problems. 



It is most important that the United States, through enactment of 

 this legislation, set an example throughout the world. 



It has been my philosophy that we cannot save anything that we 

 do not experience. 



My testimony today has been directed in a slightly different way 

 than I think you would expect a scientist to react. 



I have become increasingly disenchanted with the fact that we 

 scientists become so specialized that we bury ourselves in a hole and 

 never look out and essentially communicate only with each other in a 

 very technical way. 



I have spent approximately 6% months living alone developing a 

 documentary on the ecology of streams and lakes in southeast Alaska. 



In the process of doing this, I began for the first time to look out 



