242 



Dr. Arnold Ross, San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, California, 



parasitic barnacles. 

 Dr. Philip Schwartz, Warren State Hospital, Warren, Pennsylvania, senile 



changes. 

 Mr. Robert C. Boice, Little Comi>any of Mary Hospital, Torrance, California 



chemistry of blood and urine. 



Results 



At the termination of each Special Scientific Permit, a preliminary report list- 

 ing the sex, length, and locations and dates of capture of each whale was sub- 

 mitted to the Secretary of the International Whaling Commission. 



Interim reports on the biological results of the studies were submitted to the 

 Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission in 1964, 1967, and 

 1969. 



The final results of our studies were published in April 1971 : Rice, D. W., and 

 A. A. Wolman, 1971. The life histoi-y and ecology of the gray whale {Eschrichtius 

 robustus). American Society of Mammalogists, Si>ecial Publication No. 3. 142 

 I>ages. 



The data obtained from the gray whales collected under the Special Scientific 

 Permits, along with our annual counts of the migrating whales, provide the 

 International Whaling Commission with information on the population size and 

 trends, and also provide a basis for setting rational catch limits if the Interna- 

 tional Whaling Commission should decide that commercial exploitation of gray 

 whales should be resumed. 



SPERM WHALES 



Jtistification 



Following the depletion of baleen whale stocks since World War II, the whaling 

 industry has turned its attention more and more to sperm whales {Physeter 

 catodon). Sperm whales are now the most important species to the industry. In 

 recent years the annual catch has been around 24,000, of which about 15,000 come 

 from the North Pacific. 



Asse.ssment of the sustainable yield of sperm whale stocks is much more diffi- 

 cult than that of baleen whale stocks because of several unique features of sperm 

 whale biology : 



(1) Males may attain a body length of 55 or 60 feet, whereas females seldom 

 grow longer than 38 feet. 



(2) Sperm whales are polygamous, and 1 to 3 older adult males join the schools 

 of females during the breeding season, whereas the younger adult males may 

 form "bachelor" schools. 



(3) Many male sperm whales migrate to high latitudes during tJie summer 

 months, whereas the females and immature animals remain in temperate or 

 tropical waters. 



Because of the legal minimum length limit of 38 feet for floating factory ships, 

 and 3." feet for shore stations, commercial catches of sperm whales are comprised 

 of about 75 percent males : only a few of tJie older females are taken. As a result 

 it appears that, at least in some areas such as the North Pacific, the catch of 

 males exceeds the sustainable yield, while the catch of females is less than the 

 siistainable yield. 



TABLE 2.-SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC PERMITS TO CAPTURE SPERM WHALES ISSUED TO BCF/NMFS MARINE MAMMAL 



BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY 



Season: 



1964.. 



1965 .. 



1966 



1967.. "" 



1968 



1969 



1970 .^/^////^ 



Total 189 



> 1 school. 



