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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 23 / Friday, February 5, 2021 / Notices
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Seasonal Management Areas SMA for North Atlantic right whales in 2008.
SMAs were developed to reduce the threat of collisions between ships and North Atlantic right whales around their migratory route and calving grounds.
The Block Island SMA, which is active from November 1 through April 30 each year, overlaps with the project area.
Humpback Whale Humpback whales are found worldwide in all oceans. Humpback whales were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act ESCA in June 1970. In 1973, the ESA replaced the ESCA, and humpbacks continued to be listed as endangered. NMFS recently evaluated the status of the species, and on September 8, 2016, NMFS divided the species into 14 distinct population segments DPS, removed the current species-level listing, and in its place listed four DPSs as endangered and one DPS as threatened 81 FR 62259;
September 8, 2016. The remaining nine DPSs were not listed. The West Indies DPS, which is not listed under the ESA, is the only DPS of humpback whale that is expected to occur in the project area.
The best estimate of population abundance for the West Indies DPS is 12,312 individuals, as described in the NMFS Status Review of the Humpback Whale under the Endangered Species Act Bettridge et al., 2015. In the western North Atlantic, humpback whales feed over a broad geographic range encompassing the eastern coast of the United States including the Gulf of Maine, Scotian Shelf, Gulf of St.
Lawrence, Newfoundland/Labrador, and Western Greenland Katona and Beard 1990. Spatial and genetic mixing occurs when humpback whales from most of these feeding areas migrate to the West Indies in the winter to mate and calve.
The Gulf of Maine feeding stock population abundance is estimated at 1,393 individuals, or approximately 11
percent of the West Indies DPS.
In New England waters, feeding is the principal activity of humpback whales, and their distribution in this region has been largely correlated to abundance of prey species, although behavior and bathymetry are factors influencing foraging strategy Payne et al., 1986, 1990. Humpback whales are frequently piscivorous when in New England waters, feeding on herring Clupea harengus, sand lance Ammodytes spp., and other small fishes, as well as euphausiids in the northern Gulf of Maine Paquet et al., 1997. During winter, the majority of humpback whales from North Atlantic feeding areas including the Gulf of Maine mate
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and calve in the West Indies, where spatial and genetic mixing among feeding groups occurs, though significant numbers of animals are found in midand high-latitude regions at this time and some individuals have been sighted repeatedly within the same winter season, indicating that not all humpback whales migrate south every winter Hayes et al., 2020.
Kraus et al. 2016 observed humpbacks in the RI/MA & MA Wind Energy Areas WEAs and surrounding areas during all seasons. Humpback whales were observed most often during spring and summer months, with a peak from April to June. Calves were observed 10 times and feeding was observed 10 times during the Kraus et al. study 2016. That study also observed one instance of courtship behavior. Although humpback whales were rarely seen during fall and winter surveys, acoustic data indicate that this species may be present within the MA
WEA year-round, with the highest rates of acoustic detections in the winter and spring Kraus et al., 2016. Other sightings of note include 46 sightings of humpback whales in the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary documented from 20112016 Brown et al., 2017. Since January 2016, elevated humpback whale mortalities have occurred along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, leading to the declaration of an UME.
Partial or full necropsy examinations have been conducted on approximately half of the 140 known cases. Of the whales examined, about 50 percent had evidence of human interaction, either ship strike or entanglement. While a portion of the whales have shown evidence of pre-mortem vessel strike, this finding is not consistent across all whales examined and more research is needed. NOAA is consulting with researchers that are conducting studies on the humpback whale populations, and these efforts may provide information on changes in whale distribution and habitat use that could provide additional insight into how these vessel interactions occurred.
Three previous UMEs involving humpback whales have occurred since 2000, in 2003, 2005, and 2006. More information is available at:
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-life-distress/2016-2019humpback-whale-unusual-mortalityevent-along-atlantic-coast. A BIA for humpback whales for feeding has been designated northeast of the lease area and is applicable from March through December LeBreque et al., 2015.

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Fin Whale Fin whales are common in waters of the U.S. Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone EEZ, principally from Cape Hatteras northward Hayes et al., 2020.
Fin whales are present north of 35degree latitude in every season and are broadly distributed throughout the western North Atlantic for most of the year, though densities vary seasonally Hayes et al., 2020. In this region, fin whales are the dominant large cetacean species during all seasons, having the largest standing stock, the largest food requirements, and therefore the largest influence on ecosystem processes of any cetacean species Hain et al., 1992;
Kenney et al., 1997. It is likely that fin whales occurring in the U.S. Atlantic EEZ undergo migrations into Canadian waters, open-ocean areas, and perhaps even subtropical or tropical regions Edwards et al., 2015.
New England waters represent a major feeding ground for fin whales; a feeding BIA for the species exists just west of the proposed project area, stretching from just south of the eastern tip of Long Island to south of the western tip of Marthas South Fork LeBreque et al., 2015. In aerial surveys conducted from 20112015 in the project area, sightings occurred in every season with the greatest numbers of sightings during the spring n=35 and summer n=49
months Kraus et al., 2016. Despite much lower sighting rates during the winter, confirmed acoustic detections of fin whales recorded on a hydrophone array in the project area from 20112015
occurred throughout the year; however, due to acoustic detection ranges in excess of 200 km, the detections do not confirm that fin whales were present in the project area during that time Kraus et al., 2016.
Sei Whale The Nova Scotia stock of sei whales can be found in deeper waters of the continental shelf edge waters of the northeastern United States and northeastward to south of Newfoundland. The southern portion of the stocks range during spring and summer includes the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, a region now considered a portion of a feeding BIA for sei whales from May through November LeBreque et al., 2015. Spring is the period of greatest abundance in U.S. waters, with sightings concentrated along the eastern margin of Georges Bank and into the Northeast Channel area, and along the southwestern edge of Georges Bank in the area of Hydrographer Canyon Hayes et al., 2020. Sei whales often occur in shallower waters to feed. In aerial
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