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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 145 / Monday, August 2, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
area sizes are based on best available spatial data at the time of the final rule.
Beginning at the westernmost extent of the previously designated Strait of Juan de Fuca critical habitat area Inland Waters Area 3, the new coastal areas span the U.S. West Coast from the U.S.
international border with Canada south to Point Sur, California, which is just south of the southernmost sightings of Southern Resident killer whales in Monterey Bay. On January 27, 2008, Southern Resident killer whales were sighted off Cypress Point, Carmel Bay, just south of Monterey Bay, traveling south N. Black, Monterey Bay Whale Watch, Orca Network sightings archives. Given uncertainty in the exact extent of the whales southward movements, we elected to delineate the southern boundary of the specific area just south of the last sighting by approximately 20 mi 32.2 km and align the boundary with the existing salmon management area boundary at Point Sur, California PFMC 2016.
The inshore eastern boundary of the areas is delineated by a continuous line along the coast at 20-ft 6.1m depth relative to mean high water. This continuous line crosses river mouths and entrances to semi-enclosed bays and estuaries at the 20 ft depth contour where available or crossing at significant barriers e.g., jetties. Based on the available data, we defined the shoreward boundary of the specific areas as a line along the coast at 20 ft 6.1 m in depth relative to the mean high water line. Southern resident killer whales rarely occur in waters shallower than 20 ft 6.1 m. For example, based on data from four satellite-tagged Southern Resident killer whales, less than 1 percent of the whales outer coastal locations were in depths less than 6 m approximately 20 ft NWFSC
unpubl. Data, see the Biological Report, NMFS 2021a but locations based on satellite tags are not exact and tidal conditions are unknown for these observations. In addition, there are no data from sightings or satellite tags to indicate that Southern Resident killer whales enter river mouths or semienclosed bays and estuaries along the coast, although data indicate the whales do use the open embayment of Monterey Bay in California. Finally, the inward boundary is consistent with the inshore boundary of the 2006 critical habitat designation in inland waters although the inshore boundary of the coastal critical habitat is delineated relative to the mean high water line instead of extreme high water, the inshore boundary in inland waters and the proposed rule 84 FR 49214, September 19, 2019.

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The offshore western boundary of the areas is the 656.2 ft 200 m depth contour, or isobath. This was selected because movement data from satellitetagged Southern Resident killer whales indicate that most coastal locations were in water depths of 200 m or less 96.5
percent and within 21.1 mi 34 km from shore 95 percent Hanson et al.
2017. Additionally, the limited information available on the distribution of salmon in offshore waters indicates Southern Resident killer whale prey an essential feature of the habitat is present in waters of 200
m or less. The two areas off the coast of Washington share the same northern and southern boundaries but are separated longitudinally at the 50-m isobath, such that Coastal Area 1 ranges from 6.150 m depth while Coastal Area 2 ranges from 50200 m depth. The 50m isobath was selected to distinguish the areas because the majority 42 of 52, or 76.4 percent of prey samples from observed Southern Resident killer whale predation events in these two areas were collected in water depths of 50 m or less, and just over half of the satellite tag locations in these two areas 54 percent were in water depths of 50 m or less NWFSC unpubl. data; Hanson et al.
2021, see the Biological Report, NMFS
2021a.
The latitudinal boundaries between the specific coastal areas were initially selected to coincide with some of the coastal salmon management area boundaries as defined in the Pacific Salmon FMP and used for the management of salmon harvest Chinook and Coho specifically PFMC
2016. Although the areas of highest Southern Resident killer whale occurrence, as indicated by a durationof-occurrence model from satellite tag data Hanson et al. 2017, did not precisely match the salmon management areas, they generally align with the available information on salmonid and other fish species that may be prey to Southern Resident killer whales. For example, the whales highest use areas occurred in the North of Falcon fishery management area between Cape Falcon, Oregon and the Canadian border, and relatively high use occurred within the Klamath Management Zone. Similar to inland waters, we assume that Southern Resident killer whales respond to regional and seasonal abundance of salmon, particularly Chinook salmon runs. We then adjusted some of the boundaries to better reflect what we know about the whales use of the areas e.g., areas where foraging has been observed and/or prey samples collected,
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versus areas where whales are considered mainly to be traveling through. We selected Cape Meares, Oregon, as the southern boundary of Areas 1 and 2 instead of Cape Falcon just to the north, because the Cape Meares boundary encompassed all but one of the observed predation events and prey sample locations off the Washington and Oregon coasts. We selected Cape Mendocino, California, as the boundary between Areas 4 and 5
instead of Horse Mountain just to the south because the three predation events observed in California occurred off the Eel River just north of Cape Mendocino, and that boundary better demarcated the southern extent of a higher-use area based on the durationof-occurrence model of satellite-tagged whale movements NMFS 2021a.
The six specific coastal areas are:
Coastal Area 1Coastal Washington/
Northern Oregon Inshore Area: U.S.
marine waters west of a line connecting Cape Flattery, Washington 482310 N/
1244332 W, Tatoosh Island, Washington 482330 N/1244412
W, and Bonilla Point, British Columbia 483530 N/1244300 W, from the U.S. international border with Canada south to Cape Meares 452912 N, between the 6.1m and 50m isobath contours. This area covers 1,437.9 mi2
3,724.2 km2 and includes waters off Clallam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor, and Pacific counties in Washington and Clatsop and Tillamook counties in Oregon. The primary essential feature of this area is prey.
Coastal Area 2Coastal Washington/
Northern Oregon Offshore Area: U.S.
marine waters west of a line connecting Cape Flattery, Washington 482310 N/
1244332 W, Tatoosh Island, Washington 482330 N/1244412
W, and Bonilla Point, British Columbia 483530 N/1244300 W, from the U.S. international border with Canada south to Cape Meares 452912 N, between the 50-m and 200-m isobath contours. This area covers 4,617.2 mi2
11,958.6 km2, and as with Area 1, includes waters off Clallam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor, and Pacific counties in Washington and Clatsop and Tillamook counties in Oregon. The primary essential feature of this area is prey.
Coastal Area 3Central/Southern Oregon Coast Area: U.S. marine waters from Cape Meares 452912 N south to the OR/CA border 420000 N, between the 6.1-m and 200-m isobath contours. This area covers 4,962.6 mi2
12,853.1 km2 and includes waters off Tillamook, Lincoln, Lane, Douglas, Coos, and Curry counties in Oregon.
The primary essential feature of this area is passage.

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