questions about such fine points as the shape of the dorsal fin or the position 

 of the spout. The questionnaire was also designed in such a way that it did 

 not suggest details which the worker may not really have remembered. The 

 questions were phrased so that the answers could be readily analyzed by computer. 



There are two spaces at the end of the questionnaire (Questions 38 and 39) 

 which are to be filled out by the interviewer. These questions allow the 

 interviewer to put down his own impressions of how the interview went and what 

 he thought the reliability and knowledge of the subject was. Such information 

 may be important to the later evaluation of the data. 



The most effective way to administer the in-person interview is for the inter- 

 viewer to use a tape recorder. In many cases, the worker being interviewed 

 will tell anecdotes about the marine mammals he saw. These anecdotes constitute 

 some of the potentially most valuable information which can be elicited from 

 the in-person interview. If the interviewer has to write these incidents 

 down, he will have to stop the flow of the story. The tape recorder captures 

 these anecdotes which can then be transcribed later. 



2.3 THE SIGHTING CARD 



The purpose of the sighting card is to record detailed information on recent 

 marine mammal observations. The sighting card is designed to identify marine 

 mammals to species, to determine densities of these species around the oil 

 platforms, and to determine the relationship, if any, between the densities of 

 marine mammals around the platforms and various oil drilling activities. 



The sighting cards are to be placed on the platforms alongside the posters 

 which not only demonstrate how to identify marine mammals but have the following 

 explanation of the sighting cards: 



@S 



