Marine Mammals

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 033194B]

Marine Mammals

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of additional public hearings on scientific research

permit application (P557), and extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: In response to numerous requests, NMFS will hold additional

public hearings and will extend the public comment period on an

application for a scientific research permit to allow harassment of

marine mammals and sea turtles by a low frequency sound source, and

monitor its effects.

DATES: Public hearings will be held in Hawaii as follows: (1) On April

14, 1994, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Mabel Smyth Auditorium, 510 S.

Beretania Street, Honolulu, Hawaii; and (2) on April 15, 1994, from 6

p.m. to 10 p.m. at Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, 4191 Hardy

Street, Lihue, Hawaii (Island of Kauai).

ADDRESSES: The application 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);

Director, Southwest Region, NMFS, NOAA, 501 West Ocean Boulevard,

suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213 (310/980-4016); and

Coordinator, Pacific Area Office, NMFS, NOAA, 2570 Dole Street,

room 106, Honolulu, HI 96822-2396 (808/955-8831).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: All non-Government organizations and

scientists who wish to present prepared testimony should contact the

following individual at least 48 hours in advance of the hearing so

that a general agenda can be prepared: Jim McCallum, NMFS, Pacific Area

Office, Southwest Region, 2570 Dole Street, room 105, Honolulu, HI

96822, 808/955-8831 or 808/949-7400 (facsimile). People who are deaf or

hearing impaired may place a call through the GTE Hawaiian

Telecommunications Relay Service at 808/643-8833 (text telephone

users).

A written copy of each testimony to be presented is requested on

the day of the hearing. It is advised to use slides or overheads only

if absolutely necessary during presentations, and copies of any slides

or overheads used are requested to be made available to NMFS on the day

of the hearing.

Other people who are interested in making a statement at any of

these hearings should bring a written copy of the statement to the

hearing, and will be given an opportunity to make such statements

following the prepared testimonies. Anyone who needs additional

information or requires special accommodations to attend the public

hearing should contact the appropriate person named above at least 7

days in advance of the hearing.

Additional written comments may be sent to the following address:

Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West

Highway, room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or may be sent by

facsimile, if necessary, to 301/713-0376, and must be received by close

of business April 29, 1994.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An application for a scientific research

permit has been submitted by Scripps Institute of Oceanography,

Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Acoustic Thermometry of

Ocean Climate Program, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0225.

On November 16, 1993, notice was published in the Federal Register

(58 FR 60426) that a request for a scientific research permit (P557)

was submitted, to take by incidental harassment, the following species

of marine mammals for purposes of scientific research in waters off the

northern coast of Kauai, Hawaii: humpback whale (Megaptera

novaeangliae), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), pygmy sperm whale

(Kogia breviceps), short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala

macrorhynchus), Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), Baird's

beaked whale (Berardius bairdii), Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon

densirostris), spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), spotted dolphin

(Stenella attenuata), false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens), rough-

toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis), bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops

truncatus), and monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi).

On February 17, 1994, notice was published in the Federal Register

(59 FR 7983) that a modification to the above scientific research

permit application (P557) was submitted to request incidental

harassment of sea turtles, and additional species of marine mammals

which have only occasionally been observed in Hawaiian waters.

On March 10, 1994, notice was published in the Federal Register (59

FR 11254) that a public hearing would be held on this scientific

research permit application (P557) (and on scientific research permit

application P557A). This hearing was held in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Application P557 is a request to allow harassment of marine mammals

and sea turtles by low frequency (70 Hz) sound sources at depths of

850-900m. This source is part of the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean

Climate (ATOC) program, and is proposed to be operated from March 1994

through December 1995 off Hawaii. The maximum duty cycle will be 8%,

with a transmission bandwidth of 20 Hz at a level of 195 dB (re 1 uPa

at 1m), and with a spectrum level for the peak frequency (70 Hz) at 182

dB. The effects of these transmissions on marine mammals and sea

turtles will be monitored through a variety of methods.

The subject permit 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 part

222).

Dated: April 1, 1994.

William W. Fox, Jr.,

Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 94-8270 Filed 4-1-94; 4:11 pm]

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