Mr. Rodney Barfield, Director
North Carolina Maritime Museum
315 Front Street
Beaufort, NC 28516

January 18, 1995

Dear Mr. Barfield,

I am writing you to comment the North Carolina Maritime Museum for the research efforts of Keith Rittmaster and colleagues. I met Keith at the Ninth Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in 1991. Keith and Vicky Thayer presented results of their ongoing research on bottlenose dolphins in the Beaufort, NC area. The approach they used made many of us realize the importance of documenting numbers of neonate dolphins as a method of assessing the population. Since then, I have had numerous opportunities to meet and work with Keith, Vicky, and Nan Bowles. They have offered much needed support to the Atlantic Dolphin Research Cooperative and the participants of NMFS Coastal Migratory Bottlenose Dolphin Conservation Workshop.

Bottlenose dolphin research has been conducted longer in Beaufort than elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic. Since they have more experience than many of us now studying dolphins on the east coast, Keith and his colleagues have been invaluable resources for questions regarding research techniques, equipment, and data analysis. I have heard and read many discussions of the Beaufort area research and am impressed with the quantitative results that have been produced. In developing the Coastal Migratory Dolphin Conservation Plan, we are likely to find the research in Beaufort presented as an example for other areas to follow. Keith, his colleagues, and the North Carolina Maritime Museum are providing valuable information toward the conservation and research of coastal migratory bottlenose dolphins.

Sincerely,

Susan G. Barco
Department of Biology
James Madison University