[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 177 (Thursday, September 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43258-43259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19505]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Permit Applications Received Under the Antarctic 
Conservation Act of 1978

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of permit applications received.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish a 
notice of permit applications received to conduct activities regulated 
under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. NSF has published 
regulations under the Antarctic Conservation Act in the Code of Federal 
Regulations. This is the required notice of permit applications 
received.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit written data, comments, 
or views with respect to this permit application by October 16, 2017. 
This application may be inspected by interested parties at the Permit 
Office, address below.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Permit Office, Room 755, 
Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson 
Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nature McGinn, ACA Permit Officer, at 
the above address or [email protected]. Phone number: 703-292-8224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation, as directed 
by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-541, 45 CFR 
670), as amended by the Antarctic Science, Tourism and Conservation Act 
of 1996, has developed regulations for the establishment of a permit 
system for various activities in Antarctica and designation of certain 
animals and certain geographic areas a requiring special protection. 
The regulations establish such a permit system to designate Antarctic 
Specially Protected Areas.

Application Details

Permit Application: 2018-013

1. Applicant: Linnea Pearson, California Polytechnic State University, 
Department of Biological Sciences, 1 Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo CA 
93407.

    Activity for Which Permit is Requested: Take, Harmful Interference, 
Enter Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA), Import Into USA. The 
applicant proposes to study the thermoregulatory strategies by which 
Weddell seal pups maintain euthermia in air and in water and examine 
the development of diving capability as the animals prepare for 
independent foraging. This study will take place in Erebus Bay, near 
McMurdo Station, and may require entry into ASPA 121, Cape Royds. Each 
year, ten pups will be handled at four time points between one and 
eight weeks of age. Protocols not requiring sedation (mass, 
morphometrics, core and surface temperatures, metabolic rates) and 
protocols requiring anesthesia (body composition, biopsies, blood 
volume analysis) will be conducted on five pups at all four time points 
under manual restraint. Metabolic and morphometric measurements will be 
conducted on a separate cohort of five pups at each of the four time 
points. The applicant will also conduct behavioral observations, 
imaging, and may disturb up to 350 Weddell seals. An additional seven 
Weddell seal pups, 15 Weddell seal adult females, and 20 crabeater 
seals may be disturbed during procedures on

[[Page 43259]]

study animals. Up to two pup mortalities are requested per year, not to 
exceed three over the course of two field seasons. The applicant also 
plans to collect tissues from Weddell seals (any age or gender) found 
dead from natural causes. The permit applicant has applied for a Marine 
Mammal Protection Act permit for the proposed activities.
    Location: Erebus Bay, McMurdo Sound; ASPA 121, Cape Royds.
    Dates: October 1, 2017-September 30, 2020.

Permit Application: 2018-012

2. Applicant: Jay J. Rotella, Ecology Department, Montana State 
University, Bozeman, Montana 59717
    Activity for Which Permit is Requested: Take, Harmful Interference, 
Enter Antarctic Specially Protected Area, Import Into USA. The permit 
applicant plans to continue long-term studies of Weddell seal 
populations in Erebus Bay and the McMurdo Sound region to evaluate how 
temporal variation in the marine environment affects individual life 
histories and population dynamics of a long-lived mammal. These studies 
may require the applicant and agents to enter into ASPAs in the area 
including ASPA 137, 155, 121, 157, 158, and 161. Research involves 
capture and release of up to 675 Weddell seal pups at one to four days 
after birth for flipper tagging per year. Up to 150 of the pups would 
also receive a temperature recording flipper tag, be weighed, and have 
a skin biopsy taken during the initial tagging. These pups would be re-
captured at 20 days of age to be weighed, and again at weaning for 
weighing and removal of the temperature tags. The applicant proposes to 
capture up to 285 adult Weddell seals per year using a head-bagging 
technique to place or replace flipper tags. Skin biopsies would be 
taken from up to 100 previously tagged adult Weddell seals. Up to 75 
adult female Weddell seals would be photographed on the three occasions 
when their pups are weighed to obtain an estimate of body mass and 15 
females will be physically weighed during the initial pup tagging to 
validate the photogrammetry results. The applicant requests two Weddell 
seal unintentional mortalities, one pup and one adult, per year. The 
applicant also plans to collect tissues from adult Weddell seals found 
dead from natural causes. During the course of the study, the applicant 
anticipates incidental disturbance of Weddell seals and a limited 
number of crabeater seals and leopard seals. The permit applicant has 
applied for a Marine Mammal Protection Act permit for the proposed 
activities.
    Location: Erebus Bay, McMurdo Sound; ASPA 137, North-West White 
Island, McMurdo Sound; ASPA 155, Cape Evans; ASPA 121, Cape Royds; ASPA 
157, Backdoor Bay, Cape Royds, Ross Island; ASPA 158, Hut Point, Ross 
Island; ASPA 161, Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea.
    Dates: October 1, 2017-September 30, 2022.

Nadene G. Kennedy,
Polar Coordination Specialist, Office of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. 2017-19505 Filed 9-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P