Description
  
   
In November 1988, the Department of Marine Biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) and Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences (WFSC) at Texas A&M University (TAMU), joined forces to set up the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP). The program includes three full-time faculty, one to four postdoctoral students, twenty graduate students at any one time, and a cadre of undergraduate and graduate interns and volunteers. It has produced well over 150 scientific contributions to date as well as numerous popular articles and movies.
  
   
The Marine Mammal Research Program is coordinated under the auspices of the Institute of Marine Life Sciences (IMLS), operated jointly by the Texas Institute of Oceanography (TIO) and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences (WFSC). The interdisciplinary nature of the MMRP has allowed it to develop into one of the country's most active and innovative programs of research and education on the biology of marine mammals. Close ties have been established with researchers throughout the state from various campuses within the Texas A&M University system (including the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Fisheries Sciences, Department of Oceanography , and the College of Veterinary Medicine ), with personnel of the Galveston laboratory of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Texas Sea Grant College Program , the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston , the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network , and colleagues in several other institutions nationwide.
  
   
Rationale
 
The Marine Mammal Research Program acts as an umbrella under which multidisciplinary research on the behavior, ecology, taxonomy, anatomy, physiology, toxicology, parasitology, and conservation of marine mammals is organized and integrated. By force of being a program with a stated purpose and a set of ambitious yet realistic long range goals, the program is attracting graduate students of high caliber, and is generating financial support for research and student education from federal, state, and private funding agencies. The program represents the vision of what can be accomplished when a concerted effort is made to bring various lines of expertise to bear on general and specific problems in marine mammalogy.
  
   
Major Goals
  
1. Continuance of internationally recognized research program for long-term studies of.

 

a) Marine mammal behavioral ecology and social systems:
i) Assessment of species and numbers in select habitats

 

ii) Patterns of occurrence related to distance from shore, water temperature, current systems, primary productivity, depth of water, and other features of oceaonography
iii) Group sizes, inter-individual fidelities, and mating associations

 

iv) Population discreteness along shore, and between onshore and offshore
v) Habitat-related foraging strategies

 

vi) Calving seasons and areas
vii) Relative morbidity and mortality by time and area
b) Marine mammal physiology ecology, nutrition and energetics
c) Pollution, shipping, industrial activity, fishing, and other potential habitat degradation problems as they may affect marine mammals

 

d) Marine mammal morphology and behavior especially as related to foraging, food manipulation,and ingestion

2. Integrate facets of the above research results to generate long-term assessment of environmental quality using marine mammals as highly visible indicators of ecosystem status. An assessment of long-term changes in top level predator location and foraging patterns is especially valuable in light of world ocean climate events.

3. Continuance at TAMUG of long-term studies of animals and ecosystems for which research programs have already been developed.

4. Enhancement of the strong TAMUG undergraduate and graduate student program of teaching and research in the marine sciences, by incorporation of marine mammal biology. This is being accomplished by direct involvement of students in many facets of the Marine Mammal Research Program, and by hands-on field and laboratory studies geared towards student involvement

5. A concerted program of educating the public about marine mammals and their importance in ocean ecosystems. Education is especially important in this particular field, to foster a more realistic appreciation of marine mammals as fascinating creatures; but not as "superhuman", as much popular literature would have us believe.
 
   
Major Goals
  
The Behavioral Ecology branch of the Marine Mammal Research Program is housed in a 2300 sq. ft. building on the grounds of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Galveston Laboratory. Necropsy facilities in an adjoining building are jointly operated with personnel of the Endangered Species Program for processing of turtles and marine mammals. The program originally used start-up funds to outfit a darkroom, photo analysis laboratory, system for computer processing of behavior and sound data, a computer-based research library, and other support equipment and supplies. University funds supplied two 17-19 foot research vessels specifically dedicated to MMRP work in the local Galveston area. The program relies on IMLS-TIO support for building up-keep and secretarial help, and on contracts and grants for day-to-day operation.
  
   
Valuable resources exist in the form of five researchers with complementary capabilities at TAMUG and TAMU. William Evans, Professor Emeritus, former Dean of the Texas Maritime College and past President of TIO, is a world-renowned marine mammal acoustician and ecologist with special interests in marine mammal management and conservation biology. Randall Davis, Professor, is a physiologist who has worked on pinniped, sea otter, and marine bird energetics. Christopher Marshall, Assistant Professor, studies foraging morphology, strategies, and ecology of manatees, pinnipeds, and cetaceans. Bernd Würsig, Professor, studies behavioral ecology, and seeks to integrate information from diverse fields for an evaluation of health and status of marine mammals and their ecosystems.