[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 52 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13406-13407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6628]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 021799B]


Marine Mammals

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

ACTION: Issuance of permit amendment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Dr. Robin Baird, Biology 
Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4J1 Canada, 
has been issued an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 926.

ADDRESSES: The amendment 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);
    Regional Administrator, Northwest Regional Office, NMFS, NOAA, 7600 
Sand Point Way, NE., BIN C15700, Seattle, WA 98115, (206/526-6150);
    Regional Administrator, Alaska Regional Office, NMFS, NOAA, 709 
West 9th Street, Federal Building, Juneau, Alaska 99802 (907/586-
72212); and
    Regional Administrator, Southwest Regional Office, NMFS, NOAA, 501 
West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213 (562/980-
4001).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeannie Drevenak, 301/713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 23, 1998, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (63 FR 56913) that an amendment of permit No. 926, 
issued June 6, 1994 (59 FR 31217), had been requested by the above-
named individual. The requested amendment 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 (ESA) 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).
    The Permit be amended to: (1) expand the geographic research area 
to include Hawaii waters; (2) include suction-cup TDR/VHF tagging, 
photo-identification, and behavioral observations of several additional 
species of marine mammals found in Hawaii waters (i.e., spotted 
dolphins (Stenella attenuata), spinner dolphins (Stenella 
longirostris), rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis), pygmy killer 
whales (Feresa attenuata), melon headed whales (Peponocephala electra), 
Blainville's or dense beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris), and 
humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)); and (3) collect photo-
identification and behavioral information on odontocetes in Hawaii 
waters (i.e., those odontocete species listed above as well as 
bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and those species which are 
currently covered in the existing permit that are found in

[[Page 13407]]

Hawaii waters (i.e., short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala 
macrorhynchus), false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens), Cuvier's 
beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), sperm whales (Physeter 
macrocephalus), Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), and killer whales 
(Orcinus orca). The permittee is also requesting authorization to: 
conduct in-water activities for the purposes of obtaining measuring 
photographs and/or video footage of the behavior of tagged humpback 
whales; and retain for genetic analyses small amounts of humpback whale 
skin which may adhere to the inner surface of the suction cups. The 
primary goal of the proposed research on the subject species is to 
study their diving behavior using time-depth recorder data.
    Issuance of this amendment, 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 endangered species which is the 
subject of this permit; and (3) is consistent with the purposes and 
policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA.

    Dated: March 12, 1999.
Jeannie K. Drevenak,
Acting Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-6628 Filed 3-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F