Je veux savoir à propos de…

46206

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 18, 2021 / Notices
continental shelves. Sperm whales have low birth rates, slow growth and high survival rates.

jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES

Antarctic Fur Seal Antarctic fur seals have a circumpolar distribution. They are found from the Antarctic continent to the Falkland Islands. Land-based breeding strongly influences the distribution of females and their foraging ecology. Lactating females are restricted to foraging in the waters immediately surrounding the breeding beaches, whereas males can disperse after mating. Female distribution expands after breeding as they leave rookeries.
Antarctic krill dominates the diet of Antarctic fur seals in the vicinity of the Project Area. Penguins are occasionally taken by Antarctic fur seal bulls. Killer whales are likely the main predator of the species, but leopard seals are thought to limit the population growth at Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands. Large bulls of other species also prey on pups where species coexist.
Over three seasons from 2019 through 2020 i.e., two Antarctic summers and one winter, marine mammal sightings have been recorded during daily bird observation studies at Palmer Station. A
total of 73 fur seals were observed either hauled out or swimming in Hero Inlet during the Antarctic summer months between January and March 2019. Over a longer summer period between October 2019 and March 2020, there were 242 seals observed in Hero Inlet, with the majority of seals hauled out see Table 61 in application. During the winter months between March and October 2019, 70 seals were observed in Hero Inlet. Fewer fur seals were observed over the same 20192020
months in Arthur Harbor. See Section 6
of the application for additional details on seal observations in the project vicinity NSF, personal communication.
Crabeater Seal Crabeater seals have a circumpolar Antarctic distribution; they spend the entire year in pack ice. They move over large distances with the annual advance and retreat of pack ice. Although they can be found anywhere within the pack ice zone, they are typically found at the edge of the continental shelf, as well as in the marginal ice zone Burns et al., 2004 and Southwell et al., 2005; as referenced in Wursig et al., 2018.
Crabeater seals sometimes congregate in large groups of up to several hundred, which might be associated with general patterns of seasonal movement or foraging. As with other Antarctic seals, crabeater seals have a daily haul out
VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:34 Aug 17, 2021

Jkt 253001

pattern in summer that generally involves hauling out on ice floes during the middle of the day Bengtson and Cameron, 2004; as referenced in Wursig et al., 2018, though usually less than 80
percent are hauled out on the ice at the same time.
Antarctic krill is the primary prey item for crabeater seals, constituting over 95 percent of their diet. They also eat small quantities of fish and squid ;ritsland, 1977; as referenced in Wursig et al., 2018. Crabeater seals do not appear to seasonally switch prey.
During daily nocturnal foraging periods in summer, crabeater seals will nearly continuously dive for up to 16 h at a time.
Over three seasons i.e., two Antarctic summers and one winter from January 21, 2019 through March 31, 2020, marine mammal sightings have been recorded during bird observation studies at Palmer Station. Crabeater seals were commonly observed individually or in small groups lying on the ice in Arthur Harbor and Hero Inlet in late January and February of 2019;
the frequency of sightings decreased by March. Groups of up to four individuals were observed in or near the Project Area in early April of 2019, some were lying on the floating dock. Groups of crabeater seals were observed swimming in Hero Inlet near Gamage Point in April and early May of 2019. No crabeater seals were recorded in June, but in early July of 2019 groups of two seals and individuals were observed on the ice at Arthur Harbor and Hero Inlet, and on the shore at Bonaparte Point. No crabeater seals were observed from midJuly to mid-October of 2019.
Observations of crabeater seals increased in Arthur Harbor frequency into November of 2019, with sightings continuing into December. However, from January of 2020 through March of 2020, crabeater seals were only observed on nine occasions; this was less frequent than sightings recorded from January to March of 2019 NSF, personal communication.
Southern Elephant Seal Southern elephant seals are the largest of all pinnipeds. Southern elephant seals can be divided into three distinct stocks: Maguire Island, Iles Kerguelen, and South Georgia, the latter of which is relevant to the Project Area. There is some separation of feeding areas between the sexes, with males tending to feed more in continental shelf waters, while females either use ice-free waters broadly associated with the Antarctic Polar Front, or the marginal ice zone, moving northward as the ice expands.
Elephant seals prey on deepwater and
PO 00000

Frm 00033

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

bottom dwelling organisms, including fish, squid, crab, and octopus. They are extraordinary divers with some dive depths exceeding 1,500 m and lasting up to 120 minutes.
Over three seasons two Antarctic summers and one winter from January 21, 2019 through March 31, 2020, one elephant seal was observed lying on shore near Palmer Station in early March of 2019. No other seals were observed again until October of 2019
when on six days over the period October 8 to 19, 2019 a single seal was observed lying on the ice in Arthur Harbor. Additional sightings were noted in November and December 2019 in Hero Inlet. Sightings increased from January 6 to February 10, 2020, when elephant seals were observed at Bonaparte Point as individuals or in groups as large as 7 nearly every day and sometimes several times a day. No elephant seals were observed after February 10, 2020. This is noticeably different than 2019, when no elephant seals were observed in January or February NSF, personal communication.
Leopard Seal The leopard seal Hydrurga leptonyx is the largest Antarctic pack ice seal.
Leopard seals are solitary pinnipeds, and are widely dispersed at low densities on the circumpolar Antarctic pack ice Rogers et al., 2013; as cited in Wursig et al., 2018. Most of the leopard seal population remains within the pack ice, but when the sea ice extent is minimal, leopard seals are restricted to coastal habitats Meade et al., 2015; as cited in Wursig et al., 2018.
These seals prey on penguins, other marine mammals, and zooplankton; this combination of apex predator and planktivore is unique for marine mammals. Due to the size of their mouth, leopard seals can take largebodied prey including crabeater, Weddell, southern elephant seals, and fur seals.
During three seasons two Antarctic summers and one winter of observation studies at Palmer Station, single leopard seals were occasionally observed lying on the ice in Arthur Harbor or swimming in Hero Inlet starting in late January until April of 2019. One additional sighting was recorded in July, and no leopard seals were observed again until November 19, 2019, when three were observed on the ice in Arthur Harbor. Occasional sightings continued from November 2019 through March of 2020. On March 31, a leopard seal was observed feeding on a crabeater seal in Hero Inlet NSF, personal communication.

E:FRFM18AUN1.SGM

18AUN1