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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 106 / Friday, June 4, 2021 / Notices as gross indicators of the status of the species and other threats.
Marine mammal abundance estimates presented in this document represent the total number of individuals that make up a given stock or the total number estimated within a particular study or survey area. NMFS stock abundance estimates for most species represent the total estimate of individuals within the geographic area, if known, that comprises that stock. For some species, this geographic area may extend beyond U.S. waters. All managed stocks in this region are assessed in NMFS U.S. Pacific and Alaska SARs.
All MMPA stock information presented in Table 1 is the most recent available at the time of publication and is available in the 2019 SARs Caretta et al., 2020; Muto et al., 2020 and draft 2020 SARs available online at:
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/draftmarine-mammal-stock-assessmentreports. Where available, abundance and status information is also presented for marine mammals in British Columbia waters.
Twenty-one species with 28 managed stocks are considered to have the potential to occur in the proposed survey area. Species that could potentially occur in the proposed research area but are not likely to be harassed due to the rarity of their occurrence i.e., are considered extralimital or rare visitors to southeast Alaska/northern British Columbia are
described briefly but omitted from further analysis. These generally include species that do not normally occur in the area but for which there are one or more occurrence records that are considered beyond the normal range of the species. These species include pygmy sperm whale Kogia breviceps, dwarf sperm whale K. sima, Blainvilles beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris, Hubbs beaked whale Mesoplodon carlhubbsi, false killer whale Pseudorca crassidens, shortfinned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus, common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus, common dolphin Delphius delphis, striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba, and rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis, which are all typically distributed further south in the California Current ecosystem, and beluga whales Delphinapterus leucas, which are found further north, with a population in Yakutat Bay.
The North Pacific right whale Eubalaena japonica historically occurred across the North Pacific Ocean in subpolar to temperate waters, including waters off the coast of British Columbia Scarff, 1986; Clapham et al., 2004. Sightings of this endangered species are now extremely rare, occurring primarily in the Okhotsk Sea and the eastern Bering Sea Brownell et al., 2001; Shelden et al., 2005; Wade et al., 2006; Zerbini et al., 2010. In 2013, two North Pacific right whale sightings were made off the coast of British
Columbia U.S. Department of the Navy, 2015. There have also been four sightings, each of a single North Pacific right whale, in California waters within approximately the last 30 years most recently in 2017 Carretta et al., 1994;
Brownell et al., 2001; Price, 2017.
There is a very low probability of encountering this species in the action area, and it is not discussed further.
There are eight killer whale stocks recognized in the U.S. Pacific, with Southern Resident killer whales being the only ESA-listed population.
Southern Resident killer whales primarily occur in the southern Strait of Georgia, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and the southern half of the west coast of Vancouver Island Carretta et al., 2020. However, they have been observed in southeast Alaska. In 2007, whales from L-pod were sighted off Chatham Strait, Alaska, the farthest north they have ever been documented Carretta et al., 2020. During the summer, Southern Resident killer whales typically spend their time within the inland waters of Washington and southern British Columbia, south of the proposed survey area. There is a very low probability of encountering this stock in the action area, and it is not discussed further.
In addition, the northern sea otter Enhydra lutris kenyoni is found in coastal waters of Alaska. However, this species is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is not considered further in this document.

TABLE 1MARINE MAMMALS THAT COULD OCCUR IN THE SURVEY AREA
Common name
Scientific name
Stock
I

ESA/
MMPA
status;
strategic Y/N 1

I

Stock abundance CV, Nmin, most recent abundance survey 2

British Columbia abundance 3

Annual M/SI 4

PBR

I

I

Order CetartiodactylaCetaceaSuperfamily Mysticeti baleen whales Family Eschrichtiidae: Gray whale
Family Balaenopteridae rorquals:
Humpback whale
Minke whale
Sei whale
Fin whale
Blue whale

Eschrichtius robustus

Megaptera novaeangliae kuzira.
Balaenoptera acutorostrata scammoni.
B. borealis borealis
B. physalus physalus
B. musculus musculus

Eastern North Pacific ENP .
Western North Pacific WNP .

-; N
E/D; Y

Central North Pacific CNP .
Alaska

E/D; Y
-; N

ENP
Northeast Pacific
ENP

E/D; Y
E/D; Y
E/D; Y

26,960 0.05; 25,849;
2016.
290 n/a; 271; 2016

801

131

0.12

Unk
10,103 0.3; 7,891;
2006.
Unknown

1,029

83

26

522

Undet.

0

519 0.4; 374; 2014
Unknown
1,496 0.44; 1,050;
2014.

329

0.75
Undet.
71.2

0.2
0.6
19.4

Superfamily Odontoceti toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises Family Physeteridae:
Sperm whale Family Ziphiidae beaked whales:
Cuviers beaked whale Bairds beaked whale Stejnegers beaked whale.
Family Delphinidae:

VerDate Sep<11>2014

Physeter macrocephalus

North Pacific

E/D; Y

Unknown

Undet.

3.5

Ziphius cavirostris
Berardius bairdii
Mesoplodon stejnegeri

Alaska
Alaska
Alaska

-; N
-; N
-; N

Unknown
Unknown
Unknown

Undet.
Undet.
Undet.

0
0 0

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