[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 111 (Tuesday, June 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34590-34591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-14578]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 060303C]


Marine Mammals; File No. 981-1707

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

ACTION: Issuance of permit and availability of environmental 
assessment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Dr. Peter L. Tyack, Biology 
Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, 
Massachusetts, 02543, has been issued a permit to take various cetacean 
species 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, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 
20910; phone (301)713-2289; fax (301)713-0376;
    Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
2298; phone (978)281-9200; fax (978)281-9371;
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive North, St. 
Petersburg, FL 33702-2432; phone (727)570-5301; fax (727)570-5320.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carrie Hubard, Tammy Adams, or Steve 
Leathery, (301)713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 23, 2003, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (68 FR 19974) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take cetacean species, including endangered whales, 
had been submitted by the above-named individual and that a draft 
environmental assessment had been prepared on the proposed research. 
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, as amended (ESA; 16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the regulations governing the taking, 
importing, and exporting of endangered and threatened species (50 CFR 
parts 222-226). The environmental assessment has been finalized and is 
available for review.
    The permit authorizes takes of various cetacean species, including 
endangered whales, in the North Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico, 
and Mediterranean Sea. The research is divided into three projects 
which use as their principle sampling technique the short-term tagging 
(via suction cup mounted instruments) of marine mammals with an 
advanced digital sound recording tag (DTAG) that can record the 
acoustic stimuli an animal hears, while also measuring the animal's 
vocal, behavioral, and physiological responses to sound. Takes include 
harassment during close approaches for behavior observation and photo-
identification, attachment of tags, focal follows (i.e.,

[[Page 34591]]

following a tagged whale to observe its behavior), and controlled 
exposure to playbacks of a whale-finding sonar, airgun sounds, and/or 
sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) social vocalizations (codas). When 
the DTAGs are retrieved after release, small fragments of sloughed skin 
are often found in the suction cup. These tissue samples will be 
exported from field sites and imported for genetic analyses.
    Project 1 will involve applying DTAGs to a variety of whale and 
dolphin species to study the baseline behavior of animals tagged 
throughout the North Atlantic. There are three main goals of Project 1: 
(1) to obtain continuous sampling of marine mammal vocal and motor 
behavior, (2) to determine correction factors that can be applied to 
visual sighting data to better estimate population and stock abundance, 
and (3) to serve as a control group for Projects 2 and 3, described 
below.
    For Project 2, tagged whales and dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea 
will be used as test subjects in controlled tests of a whale-finding 
sonar developed by a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) undersea 
research lab in Italy. Maximum received level will be 160 dB re 1 
[mu]Pa rms. Playbacks of sperm whale codas will be used as a control 
stimulus. The goal of Project 2 is to validate the effectiveness of a 
whale-finding sonar, to calibrate measurements of the target strength 
of marine mammals as a function of aspect, and to assess the received 
levels at which animals that can hear the sonar may start to show 
changes in behavior.
    For Project 3 the responses of tagged sperm whales to short 
impulses from airgun arrays at received levels no higher than 180 dB re 
1 [mu]Pa rms will be studied in the Gulf of Mexico. Playbacks of sperm 
whale codas will be used as a control stimulus. These studies will 
involve visual observations of surfacing sperm whales, passive acoustic 
tracking of diving sperm whales, and tagging sperm whales with DTAGs. 
The primary research objective of the Project 3 airgun playbacks is to 
determine what characteristics of exposure to specific sounds evoke 
behavioral responses in marine mammals.
    The purpose of the research, as stated in the application, is to 
study the biology, foraging ecology, communication, and behavior of 
cetacean species, with a focus on their responses to anthropogenic 
sounds in the marine environment. The permit will be valid for a period 
of five years.
    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 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: June 4, 2003.
Stephen L. Leathery,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-14578 Filed 6-9-03; 8:45 am]
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