Genetic studies on captive marine mammal populations stress the practical application of this information to marine mammal husbandry in addition to their significance in development of genetic data and techniques for the assessment of natural populations.  Examples of recent genetic applications include: 1) comparisons of clinical profiles for genetic differences of importance in effective health monitoring, 2) screening of breeding animals for naturally occurring chromosome anomalies which lead to a high risk of aborted pregnancies and abnormal offspring, 3) detection of hybrids whose breeding success might be reduced behaviorally or genetically, and 4) the positive assignment of paternity in breeding colonies to record genetic contributions from specific individuals to succeeding generations in order to avert the potential problems in inbreeding in these colonies.