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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 23 / Friday, February 5, 2021 / Notices
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be taken by the proposed activities. For the majority of species potentially present in the specific geographic region, NMFS has designated only a single generic stock e.g., western North Atlantic for management purposes. This includes the Canadian east coast stock of minke whales, which includes all minke whales found in U.S. waters and is also a generic stock for management purposes. For humpback and sei whales, NMFS
defines stocks on the basis of feeding locations, i.e., Gulf of Maine and Nova Scotia, respectively. However, references to humpback whales and sei whales in this document refer to any individuals of the species that are found in the specific geographic region. Any biologically important areas BIAs that overlap spatially with the project area are addressed in the species sections below.
North Atlantic Right Whale The North Atlantic right whale ranges from calving grounds in the southeastern United States to feeding grounds in New England waters and into Canadian waters Hayes et al., 2020. Surveys have demonstrated the existence of seven areas where North Atlantic right whales congregate seasonally, including north and east of the proposed project area in Georges Bank, off Cape Cod, and in Massachusetts Bay Hayes et al., 2020.
In the late fall months e.g. October, North Atlantic right whales are generally thought to depart from the feeding grounds in the North Atlantic and move south along a migratory corridor to their calving grounds off Georgia and Florida. However, ongoing research indicates our understanding of their movement patterns remains incomplete Davis et al., 2017; Oleson et al., 2020. A review of passive acoustic monitoring data from 2004 to 2014
throughout the western North Atlantic demonstrated nearly continuous yearround North Atlantic right whale presence across their entire habitat range for at least some individuals, including in locations previously thought of as migratory corridors, suggesting that not all of the population undergoes a consistent annual migration Davis et al., 2017. Acoustic monitoring data from 2004 to 2014 indicated that the number of North Atlantic right whale vocalizations detected in the proposed project area were relatively constant throughout the year, with the exception of August through October when detected vocalizations showed an apparent decline Davis et al., 2017.
Shifts in habitat use have also been observed. During visual surveys
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conducted from 2012 to 2016, fewer North Atlantic right whales were detected in the Great South Channel NMFS unpublished data and the Bay of Fundy Davies et al., 2019, while the number of individuals using Cape Cod Bay in the spring increased Mayo et al., 2018. Cole et al. 2013 provided survey evidence that North Atlantic right whales were absent from the welldocumented central Gulf of Maine winter habitat. Although present to some extent year round in the region south of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket Islands Oleson et al., 2020, North Atlantic right whales have recently been observed feeding in large numbers in this area in the winter Leiter et al., 2017, which is outside of the 2016 Northeastern U.S. Foraging Area Critical Habitat. In addition, North Atlantic right whale distribution has shifted northward into the Gulf of St.
Lawrence Simard et al., 2019, where acoustic and visual survey effort indicate North Atlantic right whale presence in late spring through the early fall Cole et al., 2016; Khan et al., 2016, 2018; Oleson et al. 2020. Observations of these transitions in North Atlantic right whale habitat use, variability in seasonal presence in identified core habitats, and utilization of habitat outside of previously focused survey effort prompted the formation of a NMFS Expert Working Group, which identified current data collection efforts, data gaps, and provided recommendations for future survey and research efforts Oleson et al., 2020.
The western North Atlantic population demonstrated overall growth of 2.8 percent per year between 1990 to 2010, despite a decline in 1993 and no growth between 1997 and 2000 Pace et al., 2017. However, since 2010 the population has been in decline, with a 100 percent probability of a decline from 2011 to 2018 of just over two percent per year Pace et al., 2017.
Between 1990 and 2017, calving rates varied substantially, with low calving rates coinciding with all three periods of decline or no growth Pace et al., 2017.
On average, North Atlantic right whale calving rates are estimated to be roughly one third that of southern right whales Eubalaena australis Hayes et al., 2020, which are increasing in abundance NEFSC 2015. The current best estimate of population abundance for the North Atlantic right whale is 412
individuals Hayes et al., 2020.
In addition, elevated North Atlantic right whale mortalities have occurred since June 7, 2017 along the U.S. and Canadian coast. As of January 2021, a total of 32 confirmed dead stranded whales 21 in Canada; 11 in the United
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States and 14 serious injury including entanglement and vessel strike cases have been documented. Full necropsies have been conducted on 20 of the dead North Atlantic right whales and, in the 18 cases for which a preliminary cause of death could be determined, 8 and 10
were attributed to entanglement and vessel strike, respectively. This event has been declared an Unusual Mortality Event UME; the leading cause of death for this UME is human interaction, specifically from entanglements or vessel strikes. More information is available online at:
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-life-distress/2017-2020-northatlantic-right-whale-unusual-mortalityevent.
During the aerial surveys conducted in the RI/MA and MA WEAs from 2011
2015, the highest number of North Atlantic right whale sightings occurred in March n=21, with sightings also occurring in December n=4, January n=7, February n=14, and April n=14, and no sightings in any other months Kraus et al., 2016. There was not significant variability in sighting rate among years, indicating consistent annual seasonal use of the area by North Atlantic right whales. Despite the lack of visual detection, North Atlantic right whales were acoustically detected in 30
out of the 36 recorded months Kraus et al., 2016. While density data from Roberts et al. 2020 confirm that the highest density of North Atlantic right whales in the project area occurs in March, it is clear that North Atlantic right whales are present in or near the project area throughout the year, particularly south of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket Islands, and that habitat use is changing Leiter et al., 2017;
Stone et al., 2017; Oleson et al., 2020.
The proposed project area is part of an important migratory area for North Atlantic right whales; this migratory area is comprised of the waters of the continental shelf offshore the East Coast of the United States and extends from Florida through Massachusetts. Aerial surveys conducted in and near the project area from 20112015
documented a total of six instances of feeding behavior by North Atlantic right whales Kraus et al., 2016. Finally, the project area is located within the North Atlantic right whale migratory corridor Biologically Important Area BIA, which is applicable November 1
through December 31, 2021 and March 1, 2022 through April 31, 2022 and extends from Florida to Massachusetts LeBreque et al., 2015.
NMFS regulations at 50 CFR 224.105
designated nearshore waters of the MidAtlantic Bight as Mid-Atlantic U.S.

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