[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 33 (Thursday, February 17, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-3579]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: February 17, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 

Marine Mammals

[I.D. 020794B]
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), NOAA, Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of modification to application for a scientific 
research permit (P557).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Scripps Institution of 
Oceanography, Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Acoustic 
Thermometry of Ocean Climate Program, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 
92093-0225, has submitted a modification to an application for a permit 
to take marine mammals and sea turtles for purposes of scientific 
research.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 21, 1994.

ADDRESSES: The modified application and related documents are available 
for review upon written request or by appointment in the following 
offices:
    Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289);
    Director, Southwest Region, NMFS, NOAA, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, 
suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213 (310/980-4016);
    Coordinator, Pacific Area Office, NMFS, NOAA, 2570 Dole Street, 
room 106, Honolulu, HI 96822-2396 (808/955-8831).
    Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on this 
request, should be submitted to the Director, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1315 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice. Those individuals requesting a hearing should set forth 
the specific reasons why a hearing on this particular request would be 
appropriate.
    Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register, the Secretary of Commerce is forwarding copies of this 
modification to the application to the Marine Mammal Commission and its 
Committee of Scientific Advisors.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject permit is requested under the 
authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 
U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the Regulations Governing the Taking and 
Importing of Marine Mammals (50 CFR part 216), the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the regulations 
governing the taking, importing, and exporting of endangered fish and 
wildlife (50 CFR part 222).
    This application modification is to request incidental harassment 
of sea turtles, and additional species of marine mammals which have 
only occasionally been observed in Hawaiian waters. As described in the 
original permit application, permission is requested to incidentally 
harass marine mammals and sea turtles by a low frequency (70 Hz) sound 
source which will be located north of Haena, off the northern coast of 
Kauai, Hawaii, at a depth of 850-950m. This sound source is part of the 
Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) program, and will be 
operated from February 1994 through December 1995, with a maximum duty 
cycle of 8%, to conduct research on the effects of this source on 
marine mammals and sea turtles. The transmission bandwidth is 20 Hz 
with a level of 195 dB (re: 1 uPa at 1m), and the spectrum level for 
the peak frequency (70 Hz) is 182 dB. The effects of these 
transmissions on marine mammals and sea turtles will be monitored 
through passive acoustic tracking of Mysticetes, shore-based visual 
observations of marine mammals, and aerial observations and surveys of 
marine mammals and sea turtles.

    Dated: February 9, 1994.
William W. Fox, Jr.,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 94-3579 Filed: 2-16-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P