Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

30023

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 106 / Friday, June 4, 2021 / Notices values would underestimate presence of California sea lions in the proposed survey area. Therefore, information available in DoN 2019 for the Offshore Northwest Training and Testing NWTT Area off Washington/Oregon in the month of August was used;
densities for 040 km from shore were applied to shallow and intermediate water depths, and the density for 0450
km from shore was used for deep water.
The density for 4070 km from shore was the lowest and was therefore not used.
In British Columbia, several systematic surveys have been conducted in coastal waters e.g., Williams and Thomas 2007; Ford et al., 2010; Best et al., 2015; Harvey et al., 2017. Surveys in coastal as well as offshore waters were conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada DFO during 2002 to 2008. However, density estimates for the survey areas outside the U.S. EEZ, i.e., in the Canadian EEZ, were not readily available, so density estimates for U.S.
waters were applied to the entire survey area.
Take Calculation and Estimation Here we describe how the information provided above is brought together to produce a quantitative take estimate. In order to estimate the number of marine mammals predicted to be exposed to sound levels that would result in Level A or Level B harassment, radial distances from the airgun array to predicted isopleths corresponding to the Level A harassment and Level B

harassment thresholds are calculated, as described above. Those radial distances are then used to calculate the areas around the airgun array predicted to be ensonified to sound levels that exceed the Level A and Level B harassment thresholds. The distance for the 160-dB
threshold based on LDEO model results was used to draw a buffer around every transect line in GIS to determine the total ensonified area in each depth category. Estimated incidents of exposure above Level A and Level B harassment criteria are presented in Table 7. For additional details regarding calculations of ensonified area, please see Appendix D
of LDEOs application. As noted previously, LDEO has added 25
percent in the form of operational days, which is equivalent to adding 25
percent to the proposed line-kms to be surveyed. This accounts for the possibility that additional operational days are required, but likely results in an overestimate of actual exposures.
As previously noted, NMFS cannot authorize incidental take under the MMPA that may occur within the territorial seas of foreign nations from 012 nmi 22.2 km from shore, as the MMPA does not apply in those waters.
However, NMFS has still calculated the estimated level of incidental take in the entire activity area including Canadian territorial waters as part of the analysis supporting our determination under the MMPA that the activity will have a negligible impact on the affected
species. The total estimated take in U.S.
and Canadian waters is presented in Table 8 see Negligible Impact Analysis and Determination.
The estimated marine mammal exposures above harassment thresholds are generally assumed here to equate to take, and the estimates form the basis for our proposed take authorization numbers. For the species for which NMFS does not expect there to be a reasonable potential for take by Level A
harassment to occur, i.e., mid-frequency cetaceans and all pinnipeds, the estimated exposures above Level A
harassment thresholds have been added to the estimated exposures above the Level B harassment threshold to produce a total number of incidents of take by Level B harassment that is proposed for authorization. Estimated exposures and proposed take numbers for authorization are shown in Table 7.
Regarding humpback whale take numbers, we assume that whales encountered will follow Wade 2017, i.e., that 96.1 percent of takes would accrue to the Hawaii DPS and 3.8
percent to the Mexico DPS. Of the estimated take of gray whales, and based on guidance provided through interagency consultation under section 7 of the ESA, we assume that 0.1
percent of encountered whales would be from the WNP stock and propose to authorize take accordingly. For Steller sea lions, 2.2 percent are assumed to belong to the western DPS Hastings et al., 2020.

TABLE 7ESTIMATED TAKING BY LEVEL A AND LEVEL B HARASSMENT, AND PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION
Species
Stock 1

Gray whale

WNP
ENP






Offshore
GOA/BSAI Transient
WC Transient
AK Resident
Northern Resident


WDPS
EDPS
Sitka/Chatham Strait
Dixon/Cape Decision

Humpback whale
Blue whale
Fin whale 2
Sei whale
Minke whale 2
Sperm whale 2
Bairds beaked whale 2
Stejnegers beaked whale 2
Cuviers beaked whale 2
Pacific white-sided dolphin
Northern right whale dolphin
Rissos dolphin 3
Killer whale

Dalls porpoise
Harbor porpoise
Northern fur seal
California sea lion
Steller sea lion
Northern elephant seal
Harbor seal

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:08 Jun 03, 2021

Jkt 253001

PO 00000

Frm 00037

Estimated Level B
harassment
Estimated Level A
harassment
Proposed Level B
harassment
Proposed Level A
harassment
1,450

45

403
31
873
34
57
131
29
120
114
1,371
922
1 290

14
1 44
1 2
0 0
0 0
3 5
0 0

2
1,448
403
31
873
34
57
131
29
120
114
1,374
927
22
290

0
45
14
1 44
1 2
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0

2
1,493
417
32
917
35
59
131
29
120
114
1,374
927
22
290

5,661
990
5,804
1,256
2,433

178
26
8 1
2

6,811
5,992

39
21

5,661
990
5,812
1,258
54
2,381
6,850
6,012

178
26
0 0
0 0
0 0

5,839
1,016
5,812
1,258
54
2,381
6,850
6,012

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

E:FRFM04JNN1.SGM

04JNN1

Total take
Percent of stock 1
0.7
5.5
4.1
2.1
n/a 6.7
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 5.1
3.5
0.3
96.7
49.4
83.1
12.4
96.0
7.0
n/a 1.0
0.5
0.1
5.5
3.8
45.2
25.6