[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 83 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23435-23436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-11077]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 042197G]


Marine Mammals

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

ACTION: Receipt of application for amendment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Dr. Jim Darling, Box 384, Tofino, 
B.C., Canada V0R 2Z0, has requested an amendment to Permit No. 987.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 30, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The amendment request 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); and
    Director, Alaska Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, P.O. 
Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668 (907/586-7221).
    Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on this 
request should be submitted to the Chief, Permits Division, F/PR1, 
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 
13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 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, NMFS is forwarding copies of this application to the Marine 
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject amendment 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 222.23).
    Permit No. 987 authorizes the permit holder to take (i.e., harass) 
up to 200 humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the course of 
behavioral and photo-identification studies and biopsy sampling, in the 
waters around the main Hawaiian

[[Page 23436]]

Islands, primarily off of Maui, Hawaii, over a period of 2 years. The 
purpose of the research is to collect genetic information that will, 
among other things, determine the sex and behavior patterns of 
individual humpback whales involved in ``singing'' behavior. The permit 
holder is now requesting that the Permit be amended to authorize: the 
observation of up to 200 humpback whales annually by the use of remote 
cameras to (1) observe the activities of individual whales, and (2) to 
determine if images can be obtained that will allow the length 
measurement of specific whales; and the observation of up to 1000 
humpback whales annually through fixed wing and helicopter flights to 
measure the length of whales through photogrammetry for the purpose of 
age estimation and to observe (video/film) behavior patterns.

    Dated: April 23, 1997
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-11077 Filed 4-29-97;8:45am]
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