GULF COAST RESEARCH LABORATORY 703 East Beach Drive Ocean Springs, MS 39564 USA Phone: 228

- 818

- 8847 | Fax: 228

- 818

- 8848 http://www.scemfis.org Page 1 of 3 VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE College of William & Mary

, P.O. Box 1346 Gloucester Point, VA 23062 USA Phone: 804

- 684

- 7360 | Fax: 804

- 684

- 7537 http://www.scemfis.org Science & Industry

Working Together for

Sustainable Fisheries

- A National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC)

SUBJECT:	Response to	BOEM	Request	for	Information on	the	Development	of	a Long	Term Monitoring	Plan	for	Marine	Mammals in	the	Gulf	of	Mexico;	MMAA	104000

FROM:	Independent	Advisory	T eam	on	Marine	Mammal	Assessment (Paula	Moreno,	Andr é Punt,	John	Brandon, Randall	Reeves)

, Science	Center for	Marine	Fisheries	(SCeMFiS) ,	Gulf Coast	Research	Laboratory,	University	of	Southern	Mississippi, 703	East	Beach	Drive, Ocean	Springs,	MS	39564

DATE:	8	December	2015

The	 Independent	Advisory	Team	(IAT)	was	established	i n	early	2014	 to add	 to efforts by others	 (notably	 NOAA	 scientists) to	 address	 uncertainties	 in	 marine	 mammal	 stock assessments,	 focusing	initially	 on	 the	Atlantic	 region.	The	 IAT	 has	initiated	a	 project	 that will	use	a Management	Strategy	Evaluation framew ork to	test	a	tiered approach	to	setting Potential	 Biological	 Removal	 ( PBR ) values	 for	 marine	 mammal	 stocks

. T he	 team	 is also considering conducting a	 meta

- analysis	 of	 G ulf	 of	 Mexico stock	 assessment	 reports to characterize	uncertainties	and	evaluate	the	s trengths	and weaknesses	of the methods that have	been	used	to	assess	marine	mammal	stocks	in	the region

. We	offer	the	following	thoughts	on various aspects	of	long

- term	monitoring	that	should	be considered	 for	 incorporation into	 BOEM’s	 planning	 process fo r	 long

- term	 monitoring of marine	mammals in	the	G ulf	of	Mexico

.

Baseline	Information : The	 importance	 of	 having	 reliable	 baseline	 (reference)	 data	 has	 been	 underscored	 by recent	events	in	the	Gulf	(notably	the	Deepwater	Horizon	oil	spill) an d this is	now widely recognized.	D ata	obtained	 through	NOAA	stock	assessment	surveys	and BOEM

- sponsored programs	such	as GulfCet during	the 19 9 0s and	the	Sperm	Whale	Seismic	Study during	the early	 2000s provide d a valuable foundation .	 A ny	 support	 BOEM can	 provide to ena ble additional	 surveys	 that complement,	 supplement,	 and	 extend those foundational	 data would	be	welcome .	P articular	attention	should	be	given	to	(a)	times	or	areas	not	previously well	 surveyed (historically,	 offshore	 survey	 coverage	 has	 been	 greater	 than	 c overage	 of inner	 shelf	 and	 coastal	 waters,	 bays,	 and	 estuaries) or	 not	 surveyed	 for	 a	 long	 time ,	 (b) species	or	stocks	that are	defined	as at	risk	(listed	as threatened	or endangered under	the E S A ,	 classified	 as	 strategic under	 the	 MMPA ,	 etc.),	 (c)	 populat ions	 that	 are	 known	 orGULF COAST RESEARCH LABORATORY 703 East Beach Drive Ocean Springs, MS 39564 USA Phone: 228

- 818

- 8847 | Fax: 228

- 818

- 8848 http://www.scemfis.org Page 2 of 3 VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE College of William & Mary

, P.O. Box 1346 Gloucester Point, VA 23062 USA Phone: 804

- 684

- 7360 | Fax: 804

- 684

- 7537 http://www.scemfis.org Science & Industry

Working Together for

Sustainable Fisheries

- A National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) suspected	 to	 be	 discrete	 and	 small	 even	 if	 the	 data in support may	 be limited	 (e.g.	 Gulf Bryde’s	whales),	and	 (d)	offshore	cetaceans	 that	are	known	or	suspected	 to	be	especially vulnerable	to	noise	exposure	(e.g.	ziphiids,	Risso’s	do lphins)

. Bottlenose	Dolphins: The	 b ottlenose	 dolphins is the	 Gulf’s	 most	 conspicuous,	 frequently	 observed,	 and	 iconic
cetacean. It	is also

, in	some	ways
, the	most	vulnerable	because some stocks inhabit	near

shore	 and	 inshore waters where	 human	 activit ies	 are	 most	 varied	 and	 intense. It	 is	 not surprising	that bottlenose	dolphins are the	cetaceans	most	frequently	involved	in	unusual mortality	events ,	 one of	which was declared	in	 the Gulf starting	in February	 2010. Stock delineation	 is	 fundamental	 for	 all species	 but	 it	 is especially	 challenging in	 the	 case	 of bottlenose	 dolphins, because	 there	 are numerous	 stocks	 with	 complex	 connectivity patterns	 within	 the	 Gulf.	 Any	 long

- term	 monitoring	 program should include	 a	 strong
compon ent	 focused	 on	 bottlenose	 dol phins,	 and	 this	 should	 include	 photo

- id entification (for	 abundance	 estimation,	 movement	 analysis,	 social	 connectivity) and biopsy sampling ( for genetic, contaminant
, and	 diet	 analyses ), health	 assessment,	 and	 habitat	 use	 studies. Surveys	and	studies	should cover	the	entire	range	of	stocks	to	ensure	that	valid	inferences regarding	 changes	 over	 time	 are	 not	 confounded	 with	 possible	 changes	 in	 distribution. Existing efforts	of	 th e se	kinds	should	be	continued	or,	where	necessary,	initiated. Results should	 make it	 possible	 for	 BOEM	 to	 determine	 which	 stocks	 occur	 in	 or	 near	 areas	 of active Oil	and	Gas (O&G) exploration	or	extraction	activities

, and	are	therefor e	most	at	risk from	the	effects of such	activities

.

As suggested above,	 baseline	 information	 is	 key	 to understanding the	 impacts of	 human activities	on	wildlife	populations. The occurrence	of	bottlenose	dolphins in	near

- shore and inshore	 waters has	 spurred numerous research	 efforts over the	 last few decades.	 We believe	that	BOEM	should	take	advantage	of this	situation	by :	(a )	identify ing	existing long

term	 baseline	 studies, (b ) ensuring	 that archived	 data are	 prepared	 and	 processed following	 current	 technological	 standards	 (e.g.,	 high

- resolution	 scanning	 of	 pre

- digital imagery) ,	and	(c) ensuring	that	appr opriate	analyses	of these	data	sets are	carried	out

. Cumulative	Impacts : The	 oil	 and	 gas	 industry,	 as	 well	 as	 its	 regulators	 (BOEM),	 may	 regard	 monitoring	 of cetaceans	(and	other	wildlife)	in	areas	other	 than	 those	where	specific	O&G	activities	are taking place	 to	 be	 outside	 their	 sphere	 of	 responsibility. Although	 cumulative	 (or aggregate)	impacts	are	routinely	acknowledged	to	be	a	valid	concern,	the	development	ofGULF COAST RESEARCH LABORATORY 703 East Beach Drive Ocean Springs, MS 39564 USA Phone: 228

- 818

- 8847 | Fax: 228

- 818

- 8848 http://www.scemfis.org Page 3 of 3 VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE College of William & Mary

, P.O. Box 1346 Gloucester Point, VA 23062 USA Phone: 804

- 684

- 7360 | Fax: 804

- 684

- 7537 http://www.scemfis.org Science & Industry

Working Together for

Sustainable Fisheries

- A National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) methods	to	characterize,	quantify,	and	assess	such	impacts	is	in	its	infancy.	BOEM	would	be well	advised	 to	invest	in	cumulative	impact	assessment	in	 two	ways:	(a)	by	ensuring	 that relevant	data	are	collected	as	part	of	long

- term	monitoring	(including	geo

- referenced	data on	 human	 activities	 as	 well	 as	 marine	 mammal	 distribution	 and	 abundance)	 an d	 (b)	 by supporting	developmental	work	on	ways	to	use	those	data in	cumulative	impact analyses.

Stranding	Networks: M ultiple	lines	and	levels	of	evidence are	often	needed	 to	establish links	between cases	of serious	injury or mortality of	marine	mammals a nd specific causal	 factors,	including	O&G activities such	 as	 seismic	 surveys

. N etworks	 that	 help	 ensure	 detection,	 necropsy,	 and sampling	 of	 stranded	 marine	 mammals	 are	 valuable	 elements	 of	 long

- term	 monitoring. Oceanographic	modeling may enhance	 the	value of	information	obtained	 from	strandings by	 allowing	 estimation	 of the location where	 death	 occurred and	 therefore	 aiding	in	 the determination	of	the	probable	cause(s)	of	the	mortality

. Risk	Analysis: R isk	analysis should	be	used to rank	relative vulnerability	of	different areas ,	species,	and stocks to the	effects	of seismic surveys

. Such	ranking	can	then	be	employed	to	help	ensure appropriate	sampling	strategies, survey design

, survey techniques ,	etc

. Improved	u nderstanding of marine	mammal distr ibution and habitat	use : a step	toward accurate	forecast ing models : To	 better	 understand the	 dynamics	 of marine	 mammal distribution	 and habitat

- use patterns	 (including relative abundance),	 a	 suite	 of environmental	 attributes	 that	 include “drivers”	(e.g.,	prey) as	well	as “stressors” (e.g.	seismic	surveys,	naval	exercises), should	be monitored	 long

- term. In	 the	 Gulf	 of	 Mexico,	 for	 example,	 foraging	 may	 be	 especially intensive	 in	 certain	 areas	 (e.g.,	 ass ociated	 with	 Loop	 Current	 eddies,	 Mississippi	 River plume)	and	 seasons	 (e.g., in	 relation	 to prey	migrations). The	 techniques used	 to	a cq uire such data and their spatio

- temporal	resolution will	vary

. Ideally ,	environmental	attributes will be monitored coin cident with	abundance	surveys,	as	well	as via tagging	devices,	fixed stations,	remote	sensing
, and unmanned	vehicles such	as gliders and	drones ,	depending	in part	on	the	scale	of	coverage one	seeks	to	achieve

.