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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 23 / Friday, February 5, 2021 / Notices
surveys conducted from 20112015 in the project area sightings of sei whales occurred between March and June, with the greatest number of sightings in May n=8 and June n=13, and no sightings from July through January Kraus et al., 2016.

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Minke Whale Minke whales occur in temperate, tropical, and high-latitude waters. The Canadian East Coast stock can be found in the area from the western half of the Davis Strait 45 W to the Gulf of Mexico Hayes et al., 2020. This species generally occupies waters less than 100
m deep on the continental shelf. There appears to be a strong seasonal component to minke whale distribution, in which spring to fall are times of relatively widespread and common occurrence, and when the whales are most abundant in New England waters, while during winter the species appears to be largely absent Hayes et al., 2020.
In aerial surveys conducted from 2011
2015 in the project area, sightings of minke whales occurred between March and September, with the greatest number of sightings occurring in May n=38 and no sightings from October through February Kraus et al., 2016.
Although they do not overlap with the SFWF and SFEC, two minke whale feeding BIAs were defined for the southern Gulf of Maine and surrounding waters <200 m, including the waters east of Cape Cod and Nantucket, applicable from March through November LeBreque et al., 2015.
Since January 2017, elevated minke whale mortalities have occurred along the Atlantic coast from Maine through South Carolina, with a total of 103
strandings recorded when this document was written. This event has been declared a UME. Full or partial necropsy examinations were conducted on more than 60 percent of the whales.
Preliminary findings in several of the whales have shown evidence of human interactions or infectious disease, but these findings are not consistent across all of the whales examined, so more research is needed. More information is available at: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
national/marine-life-distress/2017-2019minke-whale-unusual-mortality-eventalong-atlantic-coast.
Sperm Whale The distribution of the sperm whale in the U.S. EEZ occurs on the continental shelf edge, over the continental slope, and into mid-ocean regions Hayes et al., 2020. The basic social unit of the sperm whale appears to be the mixed group of adult females with their calves and some juveniles of
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both sexes, normally numbering 2040
animals in all. There is evidence that some social bonds persist for many years Christal et al., 1998. In summer, the distribution of sperm whales includes the area east and north of Georges Bank and into the Northeast Channel region, as well as the continental shelf inshore of the 100-m isobath south of New England. In the fall, sperm whale occurrence south of New England on the continental shelf is at its highest level, and there remains a continental shelf edge occurrence in the mid-Atlantic bight. In winter, sperm whales are concentrated east and northeast of Cape Hatteras. Sperm whales are not expected to be common in the project area due to the relatively shallow depths in the project area. In aerial surveys conducted from 2011
2015 in the project area only four sightings of sperm whales occurred, three in summer and one in autumn Kraus et al., 2016.
Long-Finned Pilot Whale Long-finned pilot whales are found from North Carolina and north to Iceland, Greenland and the Barents Sea Hayes et al., 2020. In U.S. Atlantic waters the species is distributed principally along the continental shelf edge off the northeastern U.S. coast in winter and early spring, and in late spring pilot whales move onto Georges Bank and into the Gulf of Maine and more northern waters and remain in these areas through late autumn Waring et al., 2016. In aerial surveys conducted from 20112015 in the project area the majority of pilot whale sightings were in spring n=11; sightings were also documented in summer, with no sightings in autumn or winter Kraus et al., 2016.
Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin White-sided dolphins are found in temperate and sub-polar waters of the North Atlantic, primarily in continental shelf waters to the 100-m depth contour from central West Greenland to North Carolina Hayes et al., 2020. The Gulf of Maine stock is most common in continental shelf waters from Hudson Canyon to Georges Bank, and in the Gulf of Maine and lower Bay of Fundy.
Sighting data indicate seasonal shifts in distribution Northridge et al., 1997.
During January to May, low numbers of white-sided dolphins are found from Georges Bank to Jeffreys Ledge off New Hampshire, with even lower numbers south of Georges Bank, as documented by a few strandings collected on beaches of Virginia to South Carolina. From June through September, large numbers of white-sided dolphins are found from
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Georges Bank to the lower Bay of Fundy. From October to December, white-sided dolphins occur at intermediate densities from southern Georges Bank to southern Gulf of Maine Payne and Heinemann 1990. Sightings south of Georges Bank, particularly around Hudson Canyon, occur year round but at low densities. In aerial surveys conducted from 20112015 in the project area there were sightings of white-sided dolphins in every season except winter Kraus et al., 2016.
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin Atlantic spotted dolphins are found in tropical and warm temperate waters ranging from southern New England south to Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean to Venezuela Waring et al., 2014. This stock regularly occurs in continental shelf waters south of Cape Hatteras and in continental shelf edge and continental slope waters north of this region Waring et al., 2014. There are two forms of this species, with the larger ecotype inhabiting the continental shelf, usually found inside or near the 200 m isobath Waring et al., 2014.
Common Dolphin The common dolphin is found worldwide in temperate to subtropical seas. In the North Atlantic, common dolphins are found over the continental shelf between the 100-m and 2,000-m isobaths and over prominent underwater topography and east to the mid-Atlantic Ridge Hayes et al., 2020, but may be found in shallower shelf waters as well. Common dolphins are expected to occur in the vicinity of the project area in relatively high numbers.
Common dolphins were the most frequently observed dolphin species in aerial surveys conducted from 2011
2015 in the project area Kraus et al., 2016. Sightings peaked in the summer between June and August, though there were sightings recorded in nearly every month of the year Kraus et al., 2016.
Bottlenose Dolphin There are two distinct bottlenose dolphin morphotypes in the western North Atlantic: The coastal and offshore forms Hayes et al., 2020. The two morphotypes are genetically distinct based upon both mitochondrial and nuclear markers Hoelzel et al., 1998;
Rosel et al., 2009. The offshore form is distributed primarily along the outer continental shelf and continental slope in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean from Georges Bank to the Florida Keys, and is the only type that may be present in the project area as the northern extent of the range of the Western North Atlantic Northern Migratory Coastal
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