What is the potential for severely traumatized cetaceans to survive at sea? The question has been asked specifically about animals and groups released after strandings and entanglements, but here is directed to animals subjected to capture in shallow water, and released after other individuals in the group have been killed under permit. The question is relevant to meeting permit requirements where certain species are not to be killed: If they are captured with permitted species, subjected to the trauma and released will they survive or die?

On 13 November 20 Risso's dolphins, Grampus griseus, and two rough toothed dolphins, Steno bredanensis, were driven out to sea after a nine-hour period where a still-unknown number of Risso's dolphins of the mixed group were killed and processed in a bay at Taiji, Japan. This is a request for data from any source relating to the potential survival of the released cetaceans, specifically trauma-induced responses known to affect the potential for the group or the individuals to survive.

Thank you,

William W. Rossiter
President
Cetacean Society International
P.O. Box 953, Georgetown, CT 06829 USA
t/c: 203.770.8615, f: 860.561.0187
rossiter@csiwhalesalive.org
www.csiwhalesalive.org