The information presented here represents preliminary research as the result of ten-weeks of investigation in-residence at the National Museum of Natural History. This is not an official publication of the information.

As preliminary information, results and/or findings should not be cited as part of conclusive work. Please contact the authors first if you wish to utilize the information presented here.

Abstract

This study was designed to identify trends in the procedures used by the Smithsonian Institution to acquire specimens for display and research, and in popular sentiment about cetaceans since 1900.

Publications from Scientific American and National Geographic Magazine provided information on how cetaceans have been presented to the general public during the 20th century.

The specimens considered in this study were those collected for the Smithsonian Institution for whom the year of collection is known. The collection's database, accessions records and associated literature were consulted in an attempt to ascertain circumstances of death for each specimen.Cluster analyses were performed using correlation and Bray-Curtis coefficients to determine the relatedness of decades.

This research reveals that as the public has become more interested in cetaceans for non-commercial qualities, the collection of the Smithsonian Institution has changed the manner in which specimens are collected for study.

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Introduction

As early as 1858, D.F. Eschricht suggested and used the method of studying cetaceans through whaling stations, in an effort to obtain specimens of healthy animals caught in their natural habitat (Eschricht, 1858). By 1900, cetaceans were being obtained for collections from whalers as well as from collectors who harpooned or shot their own specimens.

Once of major economic interest, cetaceans have quickly become the darlings of conservation efforts. No study has yet been made of precisely how closely trends in collection procedures are influenced by shifts in public sentiment or interest in particular organisms.

This study was designed to identify trends in popular sentiment about cetaceans through popular publications in National Geographic and Scientific American Magazines. These publications were chosen for their broad editing policies and their popularity throughout the 20th century. Trends were also explored in the procedures used by the Smithsonian Institution to acquire specimens for display and research since the turn of the century. By doing so, it is possible to determine how the National Museum's cetacean collection reflects changes in public awareness about these animals.

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Measuring Public Sentiment

• National Geographic and Scientific American magazine articles categories:
  Whaling (w) = article discusses whaling industry methods, technology, or economy.
  
• Conservation/pro-whaling (cp) = article discusses conservation of cetacean populations for sustainable harvest.
  
• Conservation/Anti-whaling (ca) = article discusses conservation movements that call for an end to the whaling industry, or for regulation of other human activities (e.g. gill-netting) that endanger cetacean populations.
  
• General (g) = article provides information about general cetacean physiology or behavior.
  
• Other (o) = article mentions cetaceans as part of the natural or economic history of a particular region.

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Specimen Collecting

Smithsonian Institution Marine Mammals specimen database, associated literature, and accession files were used to determine circumstances of death for cetaceans collected since 1900.

• Capture (cap) = specimen was killed by hunters or by a researcher.
• Incidental Catch (ic) = specimen was killed unintentionally by fisherman or hunters (bycatch).
• Stranding (str)* = specimen was found beached on the shore, determined not to have died from interaction with fishing gear.
• Vessel Collision (vc) = specimen died from collision with a boat.
• Q = could not be determined.
  

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Data analysis

Cluster analyses were performed using Bray-Curtis and Correlation coefficients with PC-ORD software.

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Results

Figure 1- Types of articles published about cetaceans by National Geographic Magazine and Scientific American Magazine since 1900.

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Figure 2- Bray-Curtis (A) and Correlation (B) dendrograms
of articles published since 1900 in National Geographic Magazine and Scientific American.

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Figure 4- Bray-Curtis (C) and Correlation (D) dendrograms of specimens collected for the Smithsonian Institution's cetacean collection since 1900.

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Discussion

Cluster analysis is used to create a pictorial representation of the relatedness between data points, much like a phylogeny. The Bray-Curtis coefficient was used to group decades together based on similarities in the overall numbers of specimens taken by each of five means. Correlation coefficient was used to measure relatedness based on the proportions of animals taken by different means for each decade.

It is apparent from the presented cluster dendrograms that decades which are closer in time to one another are often more closely associated, but that this is not always the case. The associations found are more easily understood in the context of historical events that link decades together, and place the articles the public is reading in some context with the specimens appearing in the collections of the Smithsonian.

The major spike in incidental takes in the 1970's, for example, corresponds with increasing articles published about general cetacean biology, and with the initial passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1973 (Ellis, 1991). This association appears counter-intuitive, but conservation movements in the 1970's were mostly concerned with putting a stop to whaling operations. The MMPA was put into effect without including regulation of fisheries that produced cetacean bycatch.

In the past two decades, Smithsonian collections have relied increasingly on strandings and incidental catches. Articles in National Geographic and Scientific American have largely focused on general biological information on cetaceans, but a growing trend is visible in articles that discuss the preservation of stocks for their ecological and aesthetic qualities.

This study thus reveals that as the public has become more interested in cetaceans as organisms rather than as commodities, the collections of the Smithsonian Institution rely more heavily on incidentally caught and stranded animals than on those captured from the wild. It also demonstrates the power of museum collections in historical interpretation of changing human awareness of particular animals.

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Acknowledgements

My thanks to the Research Training Program, Dr. James Mead, Mary Sangrey, Ralph Chapman, Charley Potter, Nina Butler, NMNH staff, and the National Science Foundation.

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References

• Calambokidis, J., Steiger, G. 1997 Blue Whales Voyageur Press, Stillwater, MN, 72 p.
  
• Ellis, R. 1991 Men and Whales Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 542 p.
  
• Eschricht, D.F. 1858 Sur une nouvelle methode de l'etude des cetaces. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences, 47: 51-60
  
• MGM Software Design, 1999 PC-ORD Version 4, Gleneden Beach, Oregon 1999.
  
• Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Excel 97
  
• Richard, J. 1936 Re'sultats des Campagnes Scientifiques accomplies sur son yacht par Albert Ier, prince souverain de Monaco Fascicule XCIV, Documents sur les Ce'tace's et Pinnpedes provenant des Campagnes du Prince Albert Ier de Monaco

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