239 



Mr. Pelly. Could I ask a question ? How do you take those whales, 



by nets ? , , , . i • 



Dr. Harry. No ; these are taken by the re^lar whaling harpooning 



operation. 



Mr. Pelly. In other words, it is not like the killer whales that we 



capture? . . 



Dr. Harry. The killer whales, that is a better situation. Ihere 

 we can capture them in nets as you know, in Puget Sound. 



Mr. Pelly. Is there a high mortality ? 



Dr. Harry. No, on the killer whales, the last just taken, there was 

 no mortality on them at all. Last year, in a similar pod, two died. 



They have this down to a very smooth operation and do very well 

 at it now. This year, there was no mortality. 



Mr. Pollock. The killer whale is not on the endangered species 

 list. 



Dr. Harry. No. 



Mr. DiNGELL. I am curious. You have a situation where a very 

 goodly number of whales were taken under this application. 



I am curious what information you derived from this taking of 

 these whales. 



Dr. Harry. Knowledge, and size at maturity. This is very impor- 

 tant in setting regulations. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Have any studies or reports or publications been 

 made on the research that was done with regard to the whales taken 

 in 1968, 1969, and 1970? 



Dr. Harry. These reports are made for the International "Whaling 

 Commission. 



All whales taken for scientific purposes have to be reported to the 

 International Whaling Commission, and the information is inserted 

 into the reports. 



Mr. DiNGELL. I would assume that the reports or copies of the 

 reports are still in the files of the service; am I correct? 



Dr. Harry. Yes. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Would you submit them to us so they can be reviewed 

 by our staff to see just what you folks find out in connection with 

 this, if you please ? 



Mr. Pollock. Be happy to do that. 



(The information follows:) 



SciENTiFio Permits To Take Whales Issued to the Marine Mammal Biolog- 

 ical Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fishb:ries (National Ma- 

 rine Fisheries Service) 



Several Special Scientific Permits to take gray whales and sperm whales 

 were issued to the Director of the Marine Mammal Biological Laboratory of 

 the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (now National Marine Fisheries Service). 

 Following is a summary of the reasons for issuing these permits, the number 

 of whales taken, the data gathered, and the results of the studies. 



GRAY WHALES 



Justification 



Gray whales (EschricTitius robustus) are found only in the North Pacific 

 Ocean. There are two separate stocks of gray whales. The California stock spends 

 the summer in the shallow waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas, and spends 

 the winter along the west coast of Mexico, where the females bear their calves 

 in certain protected lagoons. The Korean stock spends the summer in the northern 

 part of the Okhotsk Sea, and spends the winter along the coast of South Korea. 



