15. SECOND INTERNATIONAL DECADE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH (1988)

15. SECOND INTERNATIONAL DECADE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH

(from "Chairman's Report of the Fortieth Annual Meeting")

The Chairman of the Scientific Committee pointed out that increased concentration on Comprehensive Assessment activities meant that fewer items featured under the IDCR heading in 1987/88. Progress had been made in a continuing radio-telemetry study of the behaviour of blue and fin whales and the Scientific Committee had received results from a study of the social organisation of sperm whales off the Galapagos. The 1987/88 IDCR Southern Hemisphere minke whale assessment cruise is the latest in the series of cruises which constitute a major contribution to both the second IDCR and the Comprehensive Assessment. These three activities had all received funding from the IWC.

The Scientific Committee had recommended five projects for support in 1988/89, noting that they would all be subject to the Committee's guidelines on data availability (discussed under Item 16 below):

(a): continuation of the radio-telemetry study;
(b): analysis of photographs of North Pacific humpback whales;
(c): IWC/IDCR Southern Hemisphere minke whale cruise;
(d): analysis of IDCR photographs of minke whales;
(e): proposed meeting on mortality of cetaceans in fishing nets and traps.

The Chairman of the Scientific Committee observed that all of these had funding requirements which he had reported to the Finance and Administration Committee; the Technical Committee endorsed the recommendations that these projects be supported, subject to the deliberations of that Committee, which the Commission noted.