[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 47277]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22083]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Permit Applications Received under the Antarctic 
Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541)

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of Permit Modification Received under the Antarctic 
Conservation Act of 1978, Public Law 95-541.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish a 
notice of requests to modify permits issued to conduct activities 
regulated under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. NSF has 
published regulations under the Antarctic Conservation Act at Title 45 
Part 670 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This is the required 
notice of a requested permit modification.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit written data, comments, 
or views with respect to this permit application by October 15, 2009. 
Permit applications 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: Nadene G. Kennedy at the above address 
or (703) 292-7405.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation, as directed 
by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541), 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 as requiring special protection. The 
regulations establish such a permit system to designate Antarctic 
Specially Protected Areas.

Description of Permit Modification Requested

    The Foundation issued a permit (2008-016) to Dr. Robert Garrott on 
October 1, 2007. The issued permit allows the applicant to tag new pups 
born each year in the Erebus Bay and to weigh a sample of the pups at 
parturition, approximately 20 days old, and 35 days old as part of a 
study of the Interactions of Environmental Variability, Life History 
Traits, and Demography in an Apex Antarctic Predator. Based on data 
collected so far and field observations, it appears that moms vary a 
lot in how much time they spend in the water with their pups teaching 
them to swim, forage, evade aggressive encounters with other seals, 
etc. It is believed that the amount of time pups spend in the water 
influences their weight when weaned, and likely their ultimate 
probability of survival once weaned.
    The applicant would like to temporarily deploy a small temperature 
logging tag on the pups when they are weighed at 1-2 days old and 
remove the tag when they are weighed at 35 days old. The applicant has 
identified a small (5 grams) commercially manufactured temperature 
logging unit that can be mounted on the flipper. Once the tag is 
removed, the archived data will be used to quantify the pup's swimming 
profile during the nursing period.
    Location: McMurdo Sound.
    Dates: October 2, 2009 to February 12, 2012.

Nadene G. Kennedy,
Permit Officer, Office of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-22083 Filed 9-14-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P