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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 106 / Friday, June 4, 2021 / Notices longer period, a WNP whale was tracked from Russia to Mexico and back again IWC, 2012. A number of whales are known to have occurred in the eastern Pacific through comparisons of ENP and WNP photo-identification catalogs IWC, 2012; Weller et al., 2011; Burdin et al., 2011. Therefore, a portion of the WNP population is assumed to migrate, at least in some years, to the eastern Pacific during the winter breeding season. Based on guidance provided through interagency consultation under section 7 of the ESA, approximately 0.1
percent of gray whales occurring in southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia are likely to be from the Western North Pacific stock; the rest would be from the Eastern North Pacific stock.
Prior to 2016, humpback whales were listed under the ESA as an endangered species worldwide. Following a 2015
global status review Bettridge et al., 2015, NMFS delineated 14 distinct population segments DPS with different listing statuses 81 FR 62259;
September 8, 2016 pursuant to the ESA.
The DPSs that occur in U.S. waters do not necessarily equate to the existing stocks designated under the MMPA and shown in Table 1.
In the eastern North Pacific, three humpback whale DPSs may occur: The Hawaii DPS not listed, Mexico DPS
threatened, and Central America DPS
endangered. Individuals encountered in the proposed survey area would likely be from the Hawaii DPS, followed by the Mexico DPS; individuals from the Central America DPS are unlikely to feed in northern British Columbia and Southeast Alaska Ford et al., 2014.
According to Wade 2017, in southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia, encountered whales are most likely to be from the Hawaii DPS 96.1 percent, but could be from the Mexico DPS 3.8
percent.
Although no comprehensive abundance estimate is available for the Alaska stock of minke whales, recent surveys provide estimates for portions of the stocks range. A 2010 survey conducted on the eastern Bering Sea shelf produced a provisional abundance estimate of 2,020 CV = 0.73 whales Friday et al., 2013. This estimate is considered provisional because it has not been corrected for animals missed on the trackline, animals submerged when the ship passed, or responsive movement. Additionally, line-transect surveys were conducted in shelf and nearshore waters within 3045 nautical miles of land in 20012003 between the Kenai Peninsula 150 W and Amchitka Pass 178 W. Minke whale abundance was estimated to be 1,233 CV = 0.34

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for this area also not been corrected for animals missed on the trackline Zerbini et al., 2006. The majority of the sightings were in the Aleutian Islands, rather than in the Gulf of Alaska, and in water shallower than 200 m. These estimates cannot be used as an estimate of the entire Alaska stock of minke whales because only a portion of the stocks range was surveyed. Similarly, although a comprehensive abundance estimate is not available for the northeast Pacific stock of fin whales, provisional estimates representing portions of the range are available. The same 2010 survey of the eastern Bering Sea shelf provided an estimate of 1,061
CV = 0.38 fin whales Friday et al., 2013. The estimate is not corrected for missed animals, but is expected to be robust as previous studies have shown that only small correction factors are needed for fin whales Barlow, 1995.
Zerbini et al. 2006 produced an estimate of 1,652 95 percent CI: 1,142
2,389 fin whales for the area described above.
Current and historical estimates of the abundance of sperm whales in the North Pacific are considered unreliable, and caution should be exercised in interpreting published estimates Muto et al., 2017. However, Kato and Miyashita 1998 produced an abundance estimate of 102,112 CV =
0.155 sperm whales in the western North Pacific believed to be positively biased. The number of sperm whales occurring within Alaska waters is unknown.
Very little information is available regarding beaked whale stocks in Alaska, with no reliable abundance estimates available for any stock.
Sightings of all beaked whale species are rare in Alaska, and their presence and distribution have mostly been inferred from stranding data. During long-term passive acoustic monitoring conducted at five sites in the Gulf of Alaska from 201115, all three species were detected at three sites located on the continental slope and offshore seamounts Rice et al., 2021. There was no clear diel or interannual pattern for any species at any site. However, a different species was predominant at each site and, when detected at the same locations, detection peaks were all seasonally offset, demonstrating some degree of habitat partitioning. The authors noted that detections for all three beaked whale species were low throughout the summer. Stranding records exist for all three species of beaked whale in the survey area.
Using 20102012 survey data for the inland waters of southeast Alaska, Dahlheim et al. 2015 calculated a
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combined abundance estimate for harbor porpoise in the northern including Cross Sound, Icy Strait, Glacier Bay, Lynn Canal, Stephens Passage, and Chatham Strait and southern including Frederick Sound, Sumner Strait, Wrangell and Zarembo Islands, and Clarence Strait as far south as Ketchikan regions of the inland waters of 975 95 percent CI = 857
1,109. This abundance estimate was subsequently corrected for detection biases, which are expected to be high for harbor porpoise Muto et al., 2020. The resulting abundance estimates are 553
harbor porpoise CV = 0.13 in the northern inland waters and 801 harbor porpoise CV = 0.15 in the southern inland waters Muto et al., 2020.
The Steller sea lion ranges from Japan, through the Okhotsk and Bering Seas, to central California. It consists of two morphologically, ecologically, and behaviorally separate DPSs: The Eastern, which includes sea lions in southeast Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California;
and the Western, which includes sea lions in all other regions of Alaska, as well as Russia and Japan. At the time of their initial listing under the ESA, Steller sea lions were considered a single population listed as threatened.
In 1997, following a status review, NMFS established two DPSs of Steller sea lions, and issued a final determination to list the Western DPS as endangered under the ESA. The Eastern DPS of Steller sea lion was delisted in 2013. According to Hastings et al.
2020, approximately 2.2 percent of Steller sea lions occurring in the proposed action area are likely to be from the Western DPS; the rest would be from the Eastern DPS.
Important Habitat Several biologically important areas BIA for marine mammals are recognized in southeast Alaska, and critical habitat is designated in southeast Alaska for the Steller sea lion 58 FR 45269; August 27, 1993 and the Mexico DPS of humpback whale 86 FR
21082; April 21, 2021. Note that although the eastern DPS of Steller sea lion was delisted in 2013, the change in listing status does not affect the designated critical habitat. Critical habitat is defined by section 3 of the ESA as 1 the specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the species, at the time it is listed, on which are found those physical or biological features a essential to the conservation of the species and b which may require special management considerations or protection; and 2 specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the
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