[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 158 (Wednesday, August 16, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 42546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-20203]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 080795B]


Marine Mammals

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Issuance of scientific research permit no. 966 (P586).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Continental Shelf Associates 
(Principal Investigator: Stephen Viada), 759 Parkway Street, Jupiter, 
FL 33477-9596 has been issued a permit to take the marine mammals and 
sea turtles listed below for purposes of scientific research.

ADDRESSES: The permit and related documents are available for review 
upon written request or by appointment, in the following office(s):
    Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289);
    Director, Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, 
MA 01930-2298 (508/281-9250); and
    Director, Southeast Region, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive, N., 
St. Petersburg, FL 33702-2432 (813/893-3141).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 5, 1995, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (60 FR 17315) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take cetaceans and sea turtles had been submitted by 
the above-named organization. The requested permit has been issued 
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 (ESA), 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).
    The permit authorized the holder to take by close approach (within 
650 ft (198 m)) of a fixed-wing aircraft at a speed of 80-140 mph (128-
220 km/h) an unspecified number of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, 
(Tursiops truncatus), common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), striped 
dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella 
frontalis), harbor porpoise (phocoena), Risso's dolphins (Grampus 
griseus), Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus), rough-
toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis), long-finned pilot whales 
(Globicephala melaena), short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala 
macrorhynchus), pygmy sperm whales (Kogia breviceps), dwarf sperm 
whales (Kogia simus), Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), 
dense beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris), Antillean beaked whales 
(Mesoplodon europaeus), true's beaked whales (Mesoplodon mirus), white 
whales (Delphinapterus leucas), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), 
fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), minke whales (Balaenoptera 
acutorostrata), blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), sei whales 
(Balaenoptera borealis), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), 
Northern right whales (Eubalaena glacialis), killer whales (Orcinus 
orca), Bryde's whales (Balaenoptera edeni), and pygmy killer whales 
(Feresa attenuata), 180 leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) 
and 270 loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) to document presence, 
density, and distribution. Surveys will be conducted through October 
1996 in Norfolk, VA, and Mayport, FL, and will encompass the 
continental shelf edge (300-600 ft (91-213 m) depth contours). The 
results of the aerial survey will provide an adequate biological 
assessment of the two proposed survey areas with respect to habitat 
utilization by marine mammals and marine turtles and aid in selecting a 
candidate site for shock testing the SEAWOLF submarine.
    Issuance of this permit, as required by the ESA, was based on a 
finding that such permit: (1) Was applied for in good faith; (2) will 
not operate to the disadvantage of the species which are the subject of 
this permit; and (3) is consistent with the purposes and policies set 
forth in section 2 of the ESA.

    Dated: August 2, 1995.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits & Documentation Division, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 95-20203 Filed 8-15-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F