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great whales and the ineffectiveness of the International Whaling 

 Commission to deal with regulating the slaughter, have been graphi- 

 cally described at these hearings. The use of sophisticated electronic 

 devices have decimated the whale population to mere remnants of 

 their former levels. The use of aircraft in taking polar bears has 

 created waves of public indignation. 



In a recent statement I received from an official of the State of 

 Alaska Department of Fish and Game who has been studying polar 

 bears for several years, it was reported that : 



The demand for i)olar bear skins is so great that when aircraft hunting 

 is allowed, it is profitable for aircraft hunters to kill bears for commercial sale 

 of skins. This illegal hunting, when done in conjunction with legitimate use 

 of aircraft for hunting, is extremely difficult and perhaps impossible to con- 

 trol. Polar bears taken in this manner are not accounted for in harvest statis- 

 tics and the number taken could be large enough to substantially reduce the 

 bear population. 



I recently received word that Norway has banned polar bear hunt- 

 ing safaris, effective January 1, 1972. The U.S.S.R. issued a special 

 act in 1955 entitled, "Measures of Arctic Animals Conservation" which 

 prohibits polar bear hunting in that country. During the first Inter- 

 national Scientific Meeting on the Polar Bear held in Fairbanks, 

 Alaska, in 1965, the U.S.S.R. delegation proposed the following: 



In view of the fact that the polar bear is found on the territory of several 

 countries, and that its members have decreased throughout its range, necessi- 

 tating effective measures for its conservation, it is desirable that all nations 

 having possessions in the Arctic prohibit the harvesting of polar bears. As a 

 minimum measure, to prohibit the harvesting of this species for a period of five 

 years beginning January, 1966, and subsequently to limit it. 



Needless to say, this proposal was not implemented. 



The use of aircraft has also been detrimental to hair seals in waters 

 off the coast of Canada. As a result of the inability to supervise the 

 activity of hunters operating from fixed wing aircraft and the cruelty 

 allegedly prepetrated by these hunters, the Canadian Government 

 banned the use of aircraft in taking seals. 



Considerable publicity has surrounded the killing of seals in 

 Canadian waters. A great deal of emotion is aroused when one sees a 

 defenseless seal pup clubbed on the head. Regardless of the emotional 

 ramifications and the allegations of cruelty, hard scientific evidence 

 indicates a massive overkill of seals in waters off the coast of Canada. 

 Many of the pelts of these seals find their way into the U.S. 

 market. Although Americans are not involved in the killing of these 

 seals, we share the responsibility for decimating the once plentiful 

 harp and hooded seal herds by allowing these skins to be processed 

 or sold in the United States. 



A total ban on the importation of seal skins into the United States 

 will help guarantee the much needed protection for those species. 



Underlying all of the obvious threats to the mammals which inhabit 

 the great oceans, one consideration remains prevalent, and that is 

 those factors which are unknown. Within the past 2 years, mounting 

 evidence has been gathered indicating high levels of hard metals in 

 most species of marine mammals. Residual pesticides are finding their 

 way into the seas and scientists have been unable to monitor the effects 

 of these pollutants on population levels of marine mammals. 



