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Mr. Ric O'Feldman, of the World Dolphin Foundation, in a recent 

 letter has provided the following description of the present situation 

 with regard to dolphins : 



We can show you salt water dolphins here in Florida that are landlocked 

 in a fresh water hole in the ground, being exploited by a roadside tourist trap, 

 or dolphins traveling around in trucks with a sign ''Flipper" on the side to 

 draw the crowds to pay a few bucks to see them. The dolphins, of course, are not 

 Flipper, as I trained the five dolphins for the Flipper TV show myself. They 

 incidently, are all dead now, due to the fact that they just don't live very well in 

 a artificial environment, such as the Seaquariums around the world. 



The Seaquarium has to keep catching dolphins to supply most of the world's 

 oceanariums, as they frequently die in captivity or in transit. We saw dolphins 

 in Brazil that were blind due to the traveling experience, via Miami. Although 

 the Seaquarium does not mind as it is a very lucrative business. 



The taking of mammals for oceanaria should also obviously be 

 subject to extremely close scrutiny and control. Mr. O'Feldman has 

 advised that most of the dolphins taken for the oceanaria in the 

 country are taken in Biscayne Bay by the Miami Seaquarium. The 

 Biscayne Bay population of dolphins has decimated by this practice. 

 The surviving pods are distorted in composition, comprising largely 

 males, since the more tractable females, are in demand at Oceanaria. 



We feel that the killing of marine mammals by Eskimos and other 

 Native peoples, supposedly in line with the autochthonous cultural 

 patterns, should be closely supervised by Federal inspectors. 



We have received very disturbing reports — testimony of Charles 

 Callison and Alice Herrington — of massacres of walrus, in which ani- 

 mals of all ages and sex are taken, and in which a large percentage 

 of the animals killed are lost at sea or otherwise wasted. 



I understand that three or four Bowhead whales are wounded and 

 die during the annual hunt off Point Barrow for every one which is 

 retrieved. We can see no reason why the faltering comeback of this 

 rare species should be jeopardized by such attacks. The killing of Bow- 

 heads should be absolutely terminated. 



We consider it imperative that any legislation include provisions 

 barring the importation of marine mammal products derived from 

 killing by foreign nationals outside U.S. territorial waters. 



The present Endangered Species Act is a fragile stopgap, weakly 

 anchored against political vicissitudes, and cannot be considered as 

 relieving comprehensive legislation of the necessity of imposing mean- 

 ingful import restrictions. 



Burgeoning U.S. markets for animal products have helped bring 

 about the depletion, and even extinction, of many species over the past 

 two centuries. These markets continue to subsidize the decimation of 

 numerous species, including marine mammals, throughout the world. 



It would be astonishingly hypocritical to restrict U.S. citizens from 

 engaging in atrocities against marine mammals, while permitting com- 

 mercial interests in this country to underwrite such activities by foreign 

 nationals. 



We know of no marine mammal stock outside U.S. waters being 

 commercially exploited which is not being depleted, grossly abused 

 even by conventional management standards. 



Unrestricted killing of the South African fur seals has reportedly 

 been permitted this year. The harp seal herds which congregate m 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off Newfoundland are rapidly declining. 



