CONCLUSIONS

1. Roundup and Drives

Rocks exist in the drive paths and these constitute obstructions; however, seals are accustomed to traveling over this type of terrain in the rookeries. Observed drive distances and rate of movement are reasonable and do not cause inhumane treatment of the seal. The gregarious instinct of the seal makes separation of reject animals difficult, particularly at the hauling grounds where terrain is usually very rocky, making rapid movements difficult.

2. Current Method of Slaughter

Clubbing, as indicated by visual observations and necropsy studies, is a rapid, highly efficient and humane method of rendering the animal unconscious when properly performed. Occasional instances occur when more than one blow is required. These instances generally result from the presence of older bulls which constitute a hazard to the sealers but are to be rejected. Exsanguination insures immediate death. Clubbing followed by exsanguination constitutes painless, humane euthanasia. (Not a single instance of inhumaneness was noted among the St. Paul Island visitor reports independently collected over a 3-week interval in 1971 and made available to the panel by the Reeve Aleutian Airways, Inc.)

3. Management of Carcasses

The following observations are considered unaesthetic to viewing tourists:

1. Removal of genital organs.

2.

3.

Delay in removal of carcasses and pelts from the killing fields.

Exposure of hanging carcasses at the byproducts plant.

4. Public Viewing of the Kill

Currently, the harvesting procedures are open to observation by tourists. A lowered efficiency of the stunning crew was evident on several occasions when public officials or large tourist groups were present.

5. General

In the present operation good management and supervision aid in achieving humaneness. The physiology of the seal, the length, surface, and slope of the drive pathway, and the ambient temperature are all variable from day to day. Any system of harvesting must include an element of flexibility for adapting to changing conditions. The needed flexibility stems from good supervision. Perhaps a supervisor's training program which emphasizes relevant seal physiology and behavior would enhance humaneness and efficiency. For example, seals detectably clinically ill and unable to meet more than basal requirements might be separated early in the drive. When higher than usual ambient temperatures are predicted or occur, short, level drive pathways could possibly be selected, rates of travel reduced, wider separation of animals achieved by reduction of numbers per group or early termination or total cancellation of drives effected.

RECOMMENDATIONS

I. Method of Euthanasia

The current method of euthanasia. (rendering unconscious by a blow to the head with a club, followed by exsanguination) cannot be criticized from the standpoints of humaneness and efficiency; however, search for a method comparable in these respects and more aesthetically acceptable should be continued.

The steps leading to another form of euthanasia might properly be considered in two components: (1) restraint, (2) rendering unconsciousness. Suggested avenues for further study of immobilization include both pharmacologic and netting. Once immobilization is accomplished, rendering the animal unconscious becomes a simple matter of mechanical destruction of the brain. Such a process might be more aesthetically acceptable than clubbing.

In specific, the panel conducted preliminary experiments using succinyl choline to immobilize or restrain seals. The particular dose was administered subcutaneously. Seals were rendered sufficiently immobile within 10-75 seconds to allow satisfactory use of a mechanical stunning device. With some reservation concerning the humaneness of succinyl choline the panel does believe more investigation deserves support. Should it fail to meet humane requirements, procedures with other pharmacologic agents or methods of physical restraint (netting) can be investigated.

Additional funds for discovering practical alternate methods of euthanasia should be made available in support of ongoing research. Basic research in seal physiology, pathology, and behavior, while more futuristic, promises to be rewarding for seals, other forms of marine life, and man.

II. Roundups and Drives

Plans exist to shorten and improve the drive pathway from Zapadni Point. Completion of this program is encouraged.

III. Public Viewing of the Seal Kill

Tourists' reports indicate that observing the fur seals and the harvesting procedure are the most popular, interesting, and informative aspects of the tourist visits to St. Paul Island. The panel requests that every care be exercised to insure that the presence and activities of touring groups do not interfere with the efficiency or skill of the fur seal harvesters upon which the humaneness of the procedure depends. Biomedical scientists, environmentalists, and other qualified persons whose work requires close proximity to the animals should be allowed access only upon formal request from their parent organization.

IV. Aesthetic Improvements

If public viewing of the kill is continued, removal of genital organs at the killing grounds should be stopped. Removal at the byproducts plant is as efficient and in better taste. Speedier removal of hides and carcasses from the killing grounds should be undertaken for reasons of aesthetics. Carcasses hanging behind the byproducts plant should be screened from public view.

Senator HOLLINGS. I think we ought to state the distinguished Senator from Minnesota, Hubert Humphrey, has introduced legislation on this point. He has a statement that we will submit at this point in the record, and any other comments he wishes to add.

(The statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF HON. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA

Mr. Chairman, it is indeed a pleasure to present testimony before this distinguished Committee on the matter before you today. I commend you for holding these hearings and for your attempt to find the best way to protect what are probably the most intelligent, friendly and highly-evolved of all animals, the mammals of the sea.

All species of ocean mammals-without exception-are rapidly disappearing. Most are very depleted or are near extinction; all are experiencing slaughter and suffering at the hands of man.

I am particularly alarmed that our State Department has for several years been negotiating in secret a convention to the Antarctic treaty which would allow signatory nations to kill 225,000 seals annually. This is the last remaining relatively untouched area in the world; it is, in the words of a New York Times editorial of 6 February 1972, "a vast untouched observatory the world cannot afford to lose, the one continent left where man can still walk unfeared by his fellow creatures."

Our own Government is thus acquiescing in the ecological destruction of this pristine area. We have all been shocked by pictures and accounts of baby seals being clubbed to death. Now that the seal herds of the Northern Hemisphere are on the verge of being wiped out, it is inexcusable that we are cooperating in the transfer of this slaughter to the Southern Hemisphere.

The American public has made clear its feelings: it wants us to put a stop to the present killing of ocean mammals that is taking place, and prevent future slaughter from commencing. I hope that in your deliberations over the next few weeks you will report out a strong, tough bill which will do just that. As a co-sponsor of the Harris-Pryor Ocean Mammal Protection Act (S. 2579. the amended version of S. 1315), I urge that favorable consideration be given to this vital bill which would be a major step forward in halting the senseless killing of seals, whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea otters, polar bears, and other mammals of the sea.

This bill is co-sponsored by 26 Senators-over one quarter of the Senateand about 100 members of the House. It has been endorsed by all of the major newspapers in the Washington, D.C. area-The Post, The Evening Star, and The Daily News-as well as many others nationwide including the New York Times and the Louisville (Kentucky) Courier-Journal. In hearings held in September of last year before a subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, the Harris-Pryor Bill was strongly supported by such prestigious conservation, humane, and environmental organizations as The Fund for Animals, Friends of the Earth, The Humane Society of the United States, The Sierra Club, Friends of Animals, The Committee for Humane Legislation, The National Parks and Conservation Association, The World Federation for the Protection of Animals, The International Fund for Animal Welfare, and many other recognized and responsible groups. Such eminent scientists as Oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and anthropologist Ashley Montagu have also come out in favor of the bill. Congressman Edward Garmatz, Chairman of the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, stated at his hearings that, in his 25 years in Congress, he had never before seen such public interest in an issue. Other Congressmen and Senators report that they have received literally tens of thousands of letters in support of the Ocean Mammal Protection Act. with many stating that the flood of mail has been "unprecedented."

I realize that there are other worthy bills under consideration by this subcommittee; but I hope that the final bill reported out will-at a bare minimumcontain the following provisions: (1) a ban or moratorium of at least ten years on the killing of ocean mammals, except for treaty obligations and non-wasteful native hunting; (2) A total ban on the import into this country of all ocean mammal products, thereby removing much of the economic incentive for their slaughter; (3) language instructing the Secretary of State to negotiate with other countries treaties to protect marine mammals; (4) responsibility for protecting marine mammals given to the Department of Interior.

In the area of ocean mammal protection, there is one problem that is of such magnitude and importance that it requires special attention. This concerns the fact that literally hundreds of thousands of dolphins are being killed each year in the huge nets that have recently come into widespread use by the tuna industry. In 1970, in one area of the Eastern Pacific, between 250,000 and 400,000 dolphins are estimated to have perished in the huge "purse-seine" tuna nets. Worldwide, the annual mortality probably exceeds a million. As a result of this new technology employed by the tuna industry, several species of dolphin are rapidly approaching extinction.

This tragedy is compounded by the fact that dolphins are justly noted for their extraordinary intelligence, their love for each other, and their seeming friendliness towards man. Dolphins in captivity have been taught extremely complex tasks, and some have even learned to mimic the human voice. The legendary episodes of dolphins saving the lives of drowning swimmers or sailors may in fact have some scientific basis, since these animals instinctively swim under their young and buoy them to the surface so that they will not drown during their infance. The ancient Greeks had a deep appreciation for dolphins; and after using them to locate schools of fish, they would share their catch with these friendly and cooperative cetaceans.

The scientific value of dolphins is inestimable, and we have much to learn from these fascinating creatures. The dolphins that are frequently seen swimming just ahead of the bow of a ship are actually "hitching a ride" on the ship's forward compression wave, much as a surfer's board is carried along by a wave. The brain of the dolphin is quite convoluted, even more so than that of man. Studies of adult dolphins teaching their young indicate that the infants learn close to 1,000 "words." The U.S. Department of Defense has made extensive studies of dolphin behavior, and these have confirmed their extraordinary intellectual capabilities. In one experiment, a female dolphin, using its sonar system, has learned to differentiate between copper and aluminum plates by echo ranging. This is the phenomenon by which dolphins emit ultrasonic, highpitched sounds for navigating under water and locating food. By moving its head from side to side, it can locate objects long distances away by means of the returning "echo." One dolphin used in experiments by Navy would willingly allow itself to have suction cups placed over its eyes, after which it could still swim easily about without bumping into obstacles. Another trained dolphin was used by the Naval aquanauts, who spent several weeks at the bottom of the sea, to carry materials and supplies to and from the surface.

Because of the limitations of human intelligence, man may never perceive the real nature, the true significance, of these unique creatures that he is so needlessly destroying. But a hint of this vast and untapped wealth of knowledge is contained in the writings of a Russian delphinologist, Professor Yablakov : "Dolphin societies are extraordinarily complex, and up to ten generations coexist at one time. If that were the case with man, Leonardo Da Vinci, Faraday, and Einstein would still be alive. . . . Could not the dolphin's brain contain an amount of information comparable in volume to the thousands of tons of books in our libraries?"

Dolphins play an integral if little understood role in the health and stability of the oceans' ecology-ecosystems that are fundamental to the survival of man's own environment. If we allow selfish men to destroy or alienate the dolphin before we have had a chance to learn what it can teach us, then we will compound the inherent evil of human nature with a foolishness which may, in the end, hasten our own doom.

I am therefore offering an amendment to S. 2579 which is intended to specifically address and hopefully solve this problem. My amendment would set stringent guidelines on the use of tuna nets that can be used and provide strict prohibitions against the killing of dolphins after a reasonable period of time. The cost of changing over to new nets and fishing methods and the funding for the necessary research would be borne entirely by the Federal Government so as not to cause any economic hardship for our tuna fishermen. At the same time, in order that the U.S. tuna fleet not be put at a disadvantage with foreign competitors, imports of tuna from countries which use destructive fishing techniques would be banned.

My amendment also calls upon the State Department to negotiate with other tuna fishing nations a ban on the use of nets which are injurious to dolphins. Furthermore, the U.S. delegation to the June 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment to be held in Stockholm would be instructed to seek an

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