I would strongly recommend the management of marine mammals within the three-mile limit be retained as the responsibility of the various states. If there is a feeling by Congress that some states have not faced up to the responsibility of this management, I would suggest that Congress may desire to give them a period of time, such as three years, to assume this responsibility. If they do not do it within this period of time, I would then not object to the federal government establishing management programs in these particular areas until such time as the states are ready to assume their obligation. I am presently not aware if there are any states that have not assumed this responsibility. It is also my feeling the Department of Interior has an outstandingly good record of managing the Alaska fur seal. This is done under international treaty and is, without question, a classic example of how good management of wildlife resources can sustain and increase the resources. I would hope that any federal legislation would recognize and continue this management program on a proper scientific basis. For your information, I am enclosing a copy of the most recent State law and Game Commission regulation on marine mammals in the State of Washington. Thank you for your consideration. Namu, Incorporated, is hereby authorized to capture killer whales and remove from the wild a total of six (6) in the period covered by this permit, subject to the following conditions. 1. Whales can be captured or corralled only in nets, and there shall be no purse rings or purse lines on said nets. In addition, they can be taken where naturally or accidentally stranded. 2. No animal shall be taken smaller than 8 feet total length, or larger than 16 feet total length. 3. The permittee must have available an adequate marine aquarium tank in which to condition and hold whales taken, which has been approved by the Department of Game. He shall also have the services of a competent marine mammal veterinarian. 4. The Game Department, Game Management Division, in Olympia, or a Regional Supervisor, shall be notified promptly when any whales are being held in a net or nets. 5. Animals contained in nets shall be surveyed and sorted promptly without undue delay, and no animals shall be confined in nets for more than ten (10) days. 6. Within five (5) days after taking a killer whale, the permittee shall pay to the Game Department the sum of $1,000.00 as the fee for taking such whales prescribed by law. 7. This permit is valid from the date of issuance to March 31, 1972. 8. The Director of Game reserves the right to cancel this permit at any time for cause or for violations of these provisions in addition to any criminal penalties prescribed by law. Issued this 20th day of August, 1971. CARL N. CROUSE, Director. MANAGED MARINE MAMMALS PROTECTED It shall be unlawful to kill, injure, or capture any mammals of the order Cetacea including but not limited to whales and porpoises or of the suborder Pinnipedia including but not limited to seals and sea lions known as managed marine mammals, except under a permit issued by the Director of Game or his authorized representative: Provided, That this section shall not apply to hair seals and sea lions which are threatening to damage or are damaging commercial fishing gear being utilized in a lawful manner or when said mammals are damaging or threatening to damage commercial fish being lawfully taken with commercial gear. 67-765 O 71 31 CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLED ENACTMENT IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON HOUSE BILL NO. 106, CHAPTER 166, LAWS 1971, 18T EX. SESSION-EFFECTIVE DATE: AUGUST 9, 1971 The House concurred in the Senate amendments and passed the bill as amended May 6, 1971: Yeas 90; Nays 0. CERTIFICATE I, Malcolm McBeath, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is enrolled House Bill No. 106 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. MALCOLM MCBEATH, Chief Clerk. Read first time January 14, 1971, and referred to Committee on Natural Resources and Ecology. AN ACT Relating to species of fish and wildlife; amending section 77.16.040, chapter 36, Laws of 1955 as amended by section 1, chapter 75, Laws of 1961 and ROW 77.16.040; adding new sections to chapter 77.08 RCW; adding a new section to 77.12 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 77.16 RCW; adding a new section to 77.32 RCW; and prescribing penalties. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON: New section.-Section 1. There is added to chapter 77.08 RCW a new section to read as follows: As used in this title or in any rule or regulation of the commission "endangered species of fish and wildlife" shall mean those species of fish and wildlife designated by rule or regulation of the commission as seriously threatened with extinction. Such rules or regulations of the commission shall include, but not be limited to, endangered species as so designated by the secretary of the interior on the date this 1971 amendatory act shall take effect: Provided, That the commission may amend such rules and regulations to exclude any species of fish and wildlife from designation as an endangered species if the commission determines that the species is no longer endangered. New section.-Sec. 2. There is added to chapter 77.08 RCW a new section to read as follows: As used in this title or in any rule or regulation of the commission "deleterious exotic species of fish and wildlife" shall mean these species of fish and wildlife designated by rule or regulation of the commission as dangerous to the environment or native species of fish and wildlife of the state of Washington. New section.-Sec. 3. There is added to chapter 77.16 RCW a new section to read as follows: Except as authorized by permit or license lawfully issued by the director, or by rule or regulation of the commission, it shall be unlawful for any person to bring into the state, have in his possession within the state, have in his possession for sale or with intent to sell or to expose or offer for sale, or to sell, or to barter for, or to exchange, or to buy, or to have in his possession with intent to ship, or to ship any deleterious exotic species of fish or wildlife. It shall further be unlawful for any common or contract carrier knowingly to transport or receive for shipment any such deleterious exotic species of fish or wildlife. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars and not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty days and not more than one year or by both such fine and imprisonment. Sec. 4. Section 77.16.040, chapter 36, laws of 1955 as amended by section 1, chapter 75, laws of 1961 and RCW 77.160.040 are each amended to read as follows: Except as authorized by permit or license lawfully issued by the director, or by rule or regulation of the commission, it shall be unlawful for any person to have in his possession for sale or with intent to sell, or to expose or offer for sale or to sell or to barter for, or to exchange, or to buy, or to have in his possession with intent to ship, or to ship, any game animal, game bird (or)) game fish, or endangered species of fish or wildlife or any part thereof or any article made in whole or part from the skin, hide, or other parts of any endangered species of fish or wildlife. It shall further be unlawful for any common or contract carrier knowingly to transport or receive for shipment any such game animal, game bird, or fish, or endangered species of fish or wildlife or any part thereof or any article made in whole or part from the skin, hide, or other parts of any endangered species of fish or wildlife: PROVIDED, That nothing contained in this section shall prohibit any person from buying, selling, or shipping any lawfully tagged or sealed game animal, game bird, or game fish purchased from a licensed game farmer. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars and not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty days and not more than one year or by both such fine and imprisonment. New Section.-Sec. 5. There is added to chapter 77.08 RCW a new section to read as follows: As used in this title or any rule or regulation of the commission "managed marine mammals" shall include all mammals of the order cetacea and the suborder pinnipedia including but not limited to whales, porpoises, dolphins, seals and sea lions. New section.-Sec. 6. There is added to chapter 77.12 RCW a new section to read as follows: The commission shall from time to time, adopt, promulgate, amend, or repeal and enforce reasonable rules and regulations governing the time, place, and manner or prohibiting the capture or taking of managed marine mammals, the quantities, species, sex and size that may be captured or taken, and the transportation, sale, and confinement of managed marine mammals. The commission may, acting through the director, issue permits for the taking or capture of managed marine mammals for scientific research, display, or propagation purposes: PROVIDED, That a managed marine mammal may be taken without permit when it constitutes a threat to human life or is causing substantial damage to private property. New section.-Sec. 7. There is added to chapter 77.32 RCW a new section to read as follows: It shall be unlawful for any person to attempt to capture or to capture killer whales, Orcinus orca, without first having procured from the commission a permit to be known as a killer whale permit. The fee for retaining a killer whale shall be one thousand dollars for each such whale: PROVIDED, That the commission may waive the permit for any organization capturing a killer whale for scientific purposes and not for profit. Said fees shall be credited to the general fund. Passed the House May 6, 1971. The next witness is Mrs. Roger Stevens. Mrs. Stevens, we are happy to welcome you to the committee for such statement as you choose to give. If you have anyone with you that you would like to have at the witness table it would be quite appropriate to bring them forward. Please identify yourself fully and any of your associates for purposes of the record. STATEMENT OF CHRISTINE STEVENS, SECRETARY, SOCIETY FOR ANIMAL PROTECTIVE LEGISLATION, WASHINGTON, D.C. Mrs. STEVENS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Christine Stevens, Secretary for the Protection of Sea Mammals. Mrs. Barbara Gould has just brought to the members of the committee copies of an article on the humpback whale which appeared in the August 13 issue of Science which, as I am sure you all know, is the most prestigious scientific journal in existence. At the same time you will find a copy of the front pages of the Washington Star in which the story about the whales being stranded and saved by teenagers appear. Because these two publications are so very different in character, but so close together in the time of their publication I felt it was particularly interesting for the committee to have them available, the one strictly scientific, the other emotional, if you will, but very factual. In the past, people have been quite frightened of whales and very much disinclined to assist them when they are stranded as we know happens from time to time. Mr. KYROS (presiding). Without objection they will be made a part of the record at this point. (Documents referred to follow :) . 13 August 1971, Volume 173, Number 3997 SCIENCE Songs of Humpback Whales Humpbacks emit sounds in long, predictable patterns ranging over frequencies audible to humans. Roger S. Payne and Scott McVay During the quiet age of sail, under conditions of exceptional calm and proximity, whalers were occasionally able to hear the sounds of whales transmitted faintly through a wooden hull (1). In this noisy century, the widespread use of propeller-driven ships and continuously running shipboard generators has made this a rare occurrence. Not until World War II, when research in sonar and antisubmarine warfare fostered major efforts and facilities for listening underwater, did it become generally known that many species of whales are vocal. At this time the first whale recordings were made. are Of the 25 or more species of whales that have been recorded, most Odontocetes (toothed whales). Their sounds fall into three rough categories: short broad-band clicks, longer narrowband squeals, and complex sounds (2). The complex sounds usually consist of rapidly repeated clicks. Most authors assume that both clicks and complex sounds serve principally for echolocation and that whistles are primarily for communication. However, there is little direct proof of either assumption (2). There seems to be no evidence that the sort of sound-patterning with which this article is concerned occurs among Odontocetes, but there are good reasons to suppose that it might. Dr. Payne is assistant professor of physiology and animal behavior at Rockefeller University, New York, New York, and research zoologist, New York Zoological Society. Mr. McVay is an administrator at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. Mysticete (baleen whale) sounds are varied and complex, consisting, for the most part, of lower and longer sounds than have yet been recorded from Odontocetes. The fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) makes very low moans (at a fundamental frequency around 20 hertz) that are monotonously repeated in a regular pattern (3, 4). To date, the most vocal Mysticete that has been studied is the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Humpback whales, like sperm whales, are found in all oceans of the world. However, while the sperm whale has been, and remains, the most numerous large cetacean on earth, the humpback has never been very plentiful. The principal concentration of humpback whales is in the Antarctic Ocean (5), where they have probably never numbered more than 34,000 at any one time. However, the intense whaling of the past 40 years has reduced the number of humpbacks there to no more than a few percent of the original numbers. The International Whaling Commission has called for full protection of the humpback. Yet, even if this moratorium is honored, the number of humpbacks in the Southern Hemisphere seems dangerously low, perhaps too low to provide the pool of genetic variability needed to survive the next natural or man-made crisis. Though they have also been seriously overhunted in the Northern Hemisphere, small herds of humpbacks ap pear in a few areas during natural periods of concentration (that is, for feeding, migration, delivering young, and the like). The waters near Bermuda are well known as such an area. Humpbacks are found to the south of Bermuda in considerable numbers during their annual spring migration from winter breeding grounds in the south to summer feeding grounds in the north (2, 3, 6). It is from studies of the herd sojourning in these waters that we have become aware of what we believe to be the humpbacks' most extraordinary feature they emit a series of surprisingly beautiful sounds, a phenomenon that has not been reported previously in more than a passing way. We describe here one part of the humpbacks' sonic repertoire a long "song" that recurs in cycles lasting up to 30 minutes and perhaps longer. History of Recordings The first recordings of humpback whales that we know of were obtained in 1952 by Schreiber (7) from a U.S. Navy hydrophone installation on the underwater slope of Oahu, Hawaii. Although Schreiber did not identify the species, Schevill (2) subsequently recognized the sounds recorded by Schreiber as coming from humpbacks. Most of the sounds that we describe here were recorded by Frank Watlington of the Palisades Sofar Station at St. David's, Bermuda. Watlington recorded from a hydrophone installation, similar to Schreiber's, deep in the North Atlantic on the slope of Bermuda. Humpback whales may winter near Bermuda as well as pass nearby during their spring migration to northern Atlantic waters (8). The fortunate location of the broad-band hydrophones used by Watlington made it possible for him to record humpback sounds during spring migrations from 1953 to 1964. The broad-band hydrophone from which all of the recordings analyzed here were made was in about 700 meters of water, about 3 kilometers southeast of the entrance to Castle |