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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 33 / Monday, February 22, 2021 / Notices during AGDCs winter/spring contingency pile driving period.

TABLE 7BOWHEAD WHALE SIGHTING DATA FROM 2011 THROUGH 2019 AND RESULTING DENSITIES
Summer Year
Number of whales sighted
Transect effort km
Fall
Whales/km
Whales/km 2 a
Number of whales sighted
Transect effort km
Whales/km
Whales/km 2 a
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019 c

1
5 21
17
15
97
8 2
6

346
1,493
1,582
1,393
1,262
1,914
3,003
2,491
1,643

0.003
0.003
0.013
0.012
0.012
0.051
0.003
0.001
0.004

0.001
0.001
0.006
0.005
0.005
0.022
0.001
0.0004
0.002

24
17
21
79
17
23
255
69
45

1,130
1,696
1,121
1,538
1,663
2,360
1,803
1,535
2,055

0.021
0.010
0.019
0.051
0.010
0.010
0.141
0.045
0.022

0.009
0.004
0.008
0.022
0.004
0.004
0.061
0.020
0.010

Total

166

13,484

b 0.012

b 0.005

505

12,846

b 0.039

b 0.017

a Calculated
using an effective strip width of 1.15 km.
represents average, not total, across all years.
c Note that inclusion of the new 2019 data results in a lower fall bowhead whale density 0.016. NMFS has conservatively used the higher fall density included in the proposed IHA 85 FR 43382; July 16, 2020 to calculate Level B harassment take of bowhead whale. Therefore, the 2019
data is not included in calculations in the TOTAL row.
b Value
Gray Whale Gray whale sightings in the Beaufort Sea have increased in recent years;
however, encounters are still infrequent.
AGDC calculated density estimates for gray whale by dividing the average number of whales observed per km of transect effort whales/km in Table 8 by two times the ESW to encompass both sides of the transect line whales per km/2 ESW. The ESW for gray whales from the Aero Commander aircraft is 1.20 km 0.75 mi Ferguson and Clarke 2013. Therefore, the summer and fall
whales/km2. However, NMFS has conservatively used the slightly higher density included in the proposed IHA to calculate Level B harassment take of gray whale, as described in the Take Calculation and Estimation section, below.
As noted in the Description of Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities section of the proposed IHA
85 FR 43382; July 16, 2020, we do not expect gray whales to be present during AGDCs winter/spring contingency pile driving period.

density estimates are both 0.00003 gray whales/km2. The resulting densities are expected to be overestimates for the AK
LNG analysis because the data is based on sighting effort outside of the barrier islands, and gray whales rarely occur within the barrier islands as evidenced by Block 1a ASAMM surveys.
Similar to bowhead whale described above, gray whale densities were calculated using ASAMM survey data from 2011 to 2018. Inclusion of the 2019
ASAMM surveys reduces the summer gray whale density to 0.000028 gray
TABLE 8GRAY WHALE SIGHTING DATA FROM 2011 THROUGH 2019 AND RESULTING DENSITIES
Summer Year
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019

Number of whales sighted
Transect effort km
Fall
Whales/km
Whales/km 2 a
Number of whales sighted
Transect effort km
Whales/km
Whales/km 2 a

0
0 0
0 0
1 0
0 0

346
1,493
1,582
1,393
1,262
1,914
3,003
2,491
1,643

0
0 0
0 0
0.003
0 0
0

0
0 0
0 0
0.001
0 0
0

0
0 0
1 0
0 0
0 0

1,130
1,696
1,121
1,538
1,663
2,360
1,803
1,535
2,055

0
0 0
0.0007
0 0
0 0
0

0
0 0
0.0003
0 0
0 0
0

Total

1

13,484

b 0.00007

b 0.00003

1

12,846

b 0.00008

b 0.00003

a Calculated
using an effective strip width of 1.20 km.
represents average, not total, across all years.
that inclusion of the new 2019 data results in a lower fall bowhead whale density 0.016. NMFS has conservatively used the higher fall density included in the proposed IHA to calculate Level B harassment take of bowhead whale. Therefore, the 2019 data is not included in calculations in the TOTAL row.
b Value
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c Note
Beluga Whale AGDC calculated beluga densities for survey block 1 the area offshore from
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the McClure Island group using ASAMM data collected from 2014
2018. Beluga sighting data was included in surveys from 2011 to 2013; however,
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this data is only summarized by depth zone, rather than by survey block.
Therefore, the National Marine Mammal Laboratory Megan Ferguson, pers.

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