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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 106 / Friday, June 4, 2021 / Notices Survey activity information, such as acoustic source power output while in operation, number and volume of airguns operating in the array, tow depth of the array, and any other notes of significance i.e., pre-start clearance, ramp-up, shutdown, testing, shooting, ramp-up completion, end of operations, streamers, etc..
The following information should be recorded upon visual observation of any protected species:
Watch status sighting made by PSO
on/off effort, opportunistic, crew, alternate vessel/platform;
PSO who sighted the animal;
Time of sighting;
Vessel location at time of sighting;
Water depth;
Direction of vessels travel compass direction;
Direction of animals travel relative to the vessel;
Pace of the animal;
Estimated distance to the animal and its heading relative to vessel at initial sighting;
Identification of the animal e.g., genus/species, lowest possible taxonomic level, or unidentified and the composition of the group if there is a mix of species;
Estimated number of animals high/
low/best;
Estimated number of animals by cohort adults, yearlings, juveniles, calves, group composition, etc.;
Description as many distinguishing features as possible of each individual seen, including length, shape, color, pattern, scars or markings, shape and size of dorsal fin, shape of head, and blow characteristics;
Detailed behavior observations e.g., number of blows/breaths, number of surfaces, breaching, spyhopping, diving, feeding, traveling; as explicit and detailed as possible; note any observed changes in behavior;
Animals closest point of approach CPA and/or closest distance from any element of the acoustic source;
Platform activity at time of sighting e.g., deploying, recovering, testing, shooting, data acquisition, other; and Description of any actions implemented in response to the sighting e.g., delays, shutdown, ramp-up and time and location of the action.
If a marine mammal is detected while using the PAM system, the following information should be recorded:
An acoustic encounter identification number, and whether the detection was linked with a visual sighting;
Date and time when first and last heard;
Types and nature of sounds heard e.g., clicks, whistles, creaks, burst
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pulses, continuous, sporadic, strength of signal; and Any additional information recorded such as water depth of the hydrophone array, bearing of the animal to the vessel if determinable, species or taxonomic group if determinable, spectrogram screenshot, and any other notable information.
Reporting A report would be submitted to NMFS
within 90 days after the end of the cruise. The report would summarize the dates and locations of seismic operations, and all marine mammal sightings dates, times, locations, activities, associated seismic survey activities, and provide full documentation of methods, results, and interpretation pertaining to all monitoring.
The draft report shall also include geo-referenced time-stamped vessel tracklines for all time periods during which airguns were operating.
Tracklines should include points recording any change in airgun status e.g., when the airguns began operating, when they were turned off, or when they changed from full array to single gun or vice versa. GIS files shall be provided in ESRI shapefile format and include the UTC date and time, latitude in decimal degrees, and longitude in decimal degrees. All coordinates shall be referenced to the WGS84 geographic coordinate system. In addition to the report, all raw observational data shall be made available to NMFS. The report must summarize the data collected as described above and in the IHA. A final report must be submitted within 30 days following resolution of any comments on the draft report.
Reporting Injured or Dead Marine Mammals Discovery of injured or dead marine mammalsIn the event that personnel involved in survey activities covered by the authorization discover an injured or dead marine mammal, the LDEO shall report the incident to the Office of Protected Resources OPR, NMFS and to the NMFS Alaska Regional Stranding Coordinator as soon as feasible. The report must include the following information:
Time, date, and location latitude/
longitude of the first discovery and updated location information if known and applicable;
Species identification if known or description of the animals involved;
Condition of the animals including carcass condition if the animal is dead;

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Observed behaviors of the animals, if alive;
If available, photographs or video footage of the animals; and General circumstances under which the animal was discovered.
Vessel strikeIn the event of a ship strike of a marine mammal by any vessel involved in the activities covered by the authorization, LDEO shall report the incident to OPR, NMFS and to the NMFS Alaska Regional Stranding Coordinator as soon as feasible. The report must include the following information:
Time, date, and location latitude/
longitude of the incident;
Vessels speed during and leading up to the incident;
Vessels course/heading and what operations were being conducted if applicable;
Status of all sound sources in use;
Description of avoidance measures/
requirements that were in place at the time of the strike and what additional measure were taken, if any, to avoid strike;
Environmental conditions e.g., wind speed and direction, Beaufort sea state, cloud cover, visibility immediately preceding the strike;
Species identification if known or description of the animals involved;
Estimated size and length of the animal that was struck;
Description of the behavior of the animal immediately preceding and following the strike;
If available, description of the presence and behavior of any other marine mammals present immediately preceding the strike;
Estimated fate of the animal e.g., dead, injured but alive, injured and moving, blood or tissue observed in the water, status unknown, disappeared;
and To the extent practicable, photographs or video footage of the animals.
Actions To Minimize Additional Harm To Live-Stranded or Milling Marine Mammals In the event of a live stranding or near-shore atypical milling event within 50 km of the survey operations, where the NMFS stranding network is engaged in herding or other interventions to return animals to the water, the Director of OPR, NMFS or designee will advise LDEO of the need to implement shutdown for all active acoustic sources operating within 50 km of the stranding. Procedures related to shutdowns for live stranding or milling marine mammals include the following:
If at any time, the marine mammals die or are euthanized, or if
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