70938 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 

information: +1 (631) 992–3221, Access 

Code: 957–827–573. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cate 

O’Keefe, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda 

The Scientific and Statistical 

Committee will meet to: review the 

information provided by the Council’s 

Plan Development Teams, and stock 

assessment information where 

appropriate, and recommend the 

overfishing limits (OFL) and acceptable 

biological catches (ABC) for: two stocks 

of red hake, northern silver hake, and 

southern whiting (silver and offshore 

hakes combined) for fishing years (FY) 

2024–2026 and Groundfish: Acadian 

redfish, Northern windowpane and 

Southern windowpane for FY 2024– 

2026. They will reconsider SSC 

recommendations for white hake OFL 

and ABC for FY 2024–2025 based on 

corrected catch data and PDT analyses. 

Other business will be discussed as 

necessary. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained on the agenda may come 

before this Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Council 

action will be restricted to those issues 

specifically listed in this notice and any 

issues arising after publication of this 

notice that require emergency action 

under section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Act, provided the public has 

been notified of the Council’s intent to 

take final action to address the 

emergency. The public also should be 

aware that the meeting will be recorded. 

Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy 

of the recording is available upon 

request. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Cate 

O’Keefe, Executive Director, at (978) 

465–0492, at least 5 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: October 6, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22659 Filed 10–12–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD403] 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to a Marine 

Geophysical Survey of Puerto Rico in 

the Northwest Atlantic Ocean 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of an incidental 

harassment authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

regulations implementing the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as 

amended, notification is hereby given 

that NMFS has issued an incidental 

harassment authorization (IHA) to 

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L– 

DEO) to incidentally harass marine 

mammals during a marine geophysical 

survey near Puerto Rico in the 

northwest Atlantic Ocean. 

DATES: This authorization is effective 

from October 6, 2023 through October 5, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

application and supporting documents, 

as well as a list of the references cited 

in this document, may be obtained 

online at: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/ 

incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act/ 

incidental-take-authorizations-researchand-other-activities. In case of problems 

accessing these documents, please call 

the contact listed above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jenna Harlacher, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The MMPA prohibits the ‘‘take’’ of 

marine mammals, with certain 

exceptions. Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and 

(D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et 

seq.) direct the Secretary of Commerce 

(as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon 

request, the incidental, but not 

intentional, taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals by U.S. citizens who 

engage in a specified activity (other than 

commercial fishing) within a specified 

geographical region if certain findings 

are made and either regulations are 

proposed or, if the taking is limited to 

harassment, a notice of a proposed IHA 

is provided to the public for review. 

Authorization for incidental takings 

shall be granted if NMFS finds that the 

taking will have a negligible impact on 

the species or stock(s) and will not have 

an unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

taking for subsistence uses (where 

relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe 

the permissible methods of taking and 

other ‘‘means of effecting the least 

practicable adverse impact’’ on the 

affected species or stocks and their 

habitat, paying particular attention to 

rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of 

similar significance, and on the 

availability of the species or stocks for 

taking for certain subsistence uses 

(referred to in shorthand as 

‘‘mitigation’’); and requirements 

pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring 

and reporting of the takings are set forth. 

The definitions of all applicable MMPA 

statutory terms cited above are included 

in the relevant sections below. 

Summary of Request 

On April 27, 2023, NMFS received a 

request from L–DEO for an IHA to take 

marine mammals incidental to a marine 

geophysical survey of the Puerto Rico 

Trench and the southern slope of Puerto 

Rico in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. 

L–DEO submitted a revised application 

on July 27, 2023. The application was 

deemed adequate and complete on July 

27, 2023. L–DEO’s request is for take of 

27 marine mammal species by Level B 

harassment, and for a subset of 5 of 

these species, by Level A harassment. 

Neither L–DEO nor NMFS expect 

serious injury or mortality to result from 

this activity and, therefore, an IHA is 

appropriate. There are no changes from 

the proposed IHA to the final IHA. 

Description of Activity 

Overview 

Researchers from the Woods Hole 

Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), 

University of Texas Institute of 

Geophysics (UTIG), and University of 

Puerto Rico Mayaguez (UPRM), with 

funding from the U.S. National Science 

Foundation (NSF) and in collaboration 

with the United States Geological 

Survey (USGS) and researchers from the 

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean 

Research (GEOMAR), plan to conduct 

research, including seismic surveys 

using airguns as the acoustic source, 

from the research vessel R/V Marcus G. 

Langseth (Langseth). The surveys, 

including high and low energy surveys, 

would occur in the Puerto Rico Trench 

and the southern slope of Puerto Rico in 

the northwestern Atlantic Ocean during 

fall 2023. The survey would occur 

within the U.S. Exclusive Economic 

Zone (EEZ) around Puerto Rico and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands and within the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 70939 

coastal zone of Puerto Rico, and within 

the EEZs of the Dominican Republic and 

the British Virgin Islands. The survey 

would occur in water depths ranging 

from approximately 1,000 to 8,400 

meters (m) for the high energy survey 

portion and approximately 100 to 3,000 

m for the low energy survey portion. 

To complete this survey, the R/V 

Langseth would tow two different 

airgun configurations: (a) 36-airgun 

towed array with a total discharge 

volume of ∼6600 cubic inches (in3) at a 

depth of 12 m for the high-energy 

surveys, and (b) two 45/105-in3

generator-injector (GI) airguns with a 

total discharge volume of 90 in3 off 

southern Puerto Rico at a depth of 3 m 

for the low-energy surveys. The airgun 

array receiving systems for the different 

survey segments would consist of a 15 

kilometer (km) long solid-state 

hydrophone streamer, approximately 31 

short-period Ocean Bottom 

Seismometers (OBS), and 10 ultra-deepwater broadband OBS for the highenergy portion, and 150 m solid-state 

hydrophone streamer for the low-energy 

portion. For the high-energy survey, the 

airguns would fire at a shot interval of 

50 m (∼24 seconds (s)) during multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection 

surveys with the hydrophone streamer 

and at a 400-m (∼155 s) interval during 

OBS seismic refraction surveys. For the 

low energy survey, the airgun would fire 

at a shot interval of 6.25 m (2.7 s). 

Approximately 4,630 km of total survey 

trackline are planned. 

The purpose of the high-energy 

survey is to investigate the Puerto Rico 

Trench, its outer rise, and across the 

island of Puerto Rico, and provide data 

necessary to illuminate the depth, 

geometry, and physical properties of the 

seismogenic fault interface between the 

subducting Atlantic plate and the 

overlying accretionary wedge/Puerto 

Rico arc/Caribbean plate, as well as 

seismogenic structures in the 

accretionary wedge and submarine 

slopes of the island of Puerto Rico. The 

low-energy seismic surveys would be 

located over a 2019–2020 area of 

seismic activity in the Caribbean Sea to 

define the geometry of the faults that 

ruptured and other potential 

seismogenic structures. Additional data 

would be collected using a multibeam 

echosounder (MBES), a sub-bottom 

profiler (SBP), and an Acoustic Doppler 

Current Profiler (ADCP), which would 

be operated from R/V Langseth 

continuously during the seismic 

surveys, including during transit. No 

take of marine mammals is expected to 

result from use of this equipment. 

Dates and Duration 

The high-energy survey is expected to 

last for approximately 42 days, with 21 

days of seismic operations, 20 days for 

equipment deployment/recovery, and 2 

days transit/contingency time. The lowenergy survey would consist of 

approximately 3 days of seismic 

operations. R/V Langseth would likely 

leave from and return to port in San 

Juan, Puerto Rico during fall 2023. 

Specific Geographic Region 

The survey would occur within 

approximately 17–21° N, 63.6–68.2° W, 

within the EEZs of Puerto Rico, U.S. 

Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, 

and the Dominican Republic, in water 

depths ranging from approximately 

100–8400 m. The closest approach of 

the low-energy survey lines to land on 

the south side of Puerto Rico is ∼2.5 km 

from Isla de Ratones (Isla Pin ̃ ero), ∼3.4 

km from Cayo Maria Langa, and ∼3 km 

from Cayo Aurora. The closest approach 

of the high-energy survey lines to the 

coast of Puerto Rico is ∼22 km, 28 km 

to the British Virgin Islands, 42 km to 

Dominican Republic, and 77 km to the 

U.S. Virgin Islands. The region where 

the survey is planned to occur is 

depicted in Figure 1; the tracklines 

could occur anywhere within the 

polygon shown in Figure 1. 

Representative survey tracklines are 

shown, however, some deviation in 

actual tracklines, including the order of 

survey operations, could be necessary 

for reasons such as science drivers, poor 

data quality, inclement weather, or 

mechanical issues with the research 

vessel and/or equipment. 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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70940 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–C 

A detailed description of the planned 

geophysical survey was provided in the 

Federal Register notice of the proposed 

IHA (88 FR 56964; August 21, 2023). 

Since that time, no changes have been 

made to the planned survey activities. 

Therefore, a detailed description is not 

provided here. Please refer to that 

Federal Register notice for the 

description of the specified activity. 

Comments and Responses 

A notice of NMFS’ proposal to issue 

an IHA to L–DEO was published in the 

Federal Register on August 21, 2023 (88 

FR 56964). That notice described, in 

detail, L–DEO’s activities, the marine 

mammal species that may be affected by 

the activities, and the anticipated effects 

on marine mammals. In that notice, we 

requested public input on the request 

for authorization described therein, our 

analyses, the proposed authorization, 

and any other aspect of the notice of 

proposed IHA, and requested that 

interested persons submit relevant 

information, suggestions, and 

comments. The proposed notice was 

available for a 30-day public comment 

period. NMFS received no public 

comments. 

Description of Marine Mammals in the 

Area of Specified Activities 

Sections 3 and 4 of the application 

summarize available information 

regarding status and trends, distribution 

and habitat preferences, and behavior 

and life history of the potentially 

affected species. NMFS fully considered 

all of this information, and we refer the 

reader to these descriptions, instead of 

reprinting the information. Additional 

information regarding population trends 

and threats may be found in NMFS’ 

Stock Assessment Reports (SARs; 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/marinemammal-stock-assessments) and more 

general information about these species 

(e.g., physical and behavioral 

descriptions) may be found on NMFS’ 

website (https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/find-species). 

NMFS refers the reader to the 

application and to the aforementioned 

sources for general information 

regarding the species listed in table 1. 

Table 1 lists all species or stocks for 

which take is expected and authorized 

for this activity, and summarizes 

information related to the population or 

stock, including regulatory status under 

the MMPA and Endangered Species Act 

(ESA) and potential biological removal 

(PBR), where known. PBR is defined by 

the MMPA as the maximum number of 

animals, not including natural 

mortalities, that may be removed from a 

marine mammal stock while allowing 

that stock to reach or maintain its 


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Figure 1 -- Location of the Puerto Rico Seismic Surveys in the Northwest Atlantic 

Ocean 

Representative survey tracklines are included in the figure; however, the tracklines could 

occur anywhere within the survey area. EBSA = Ecologically or Biologically Significant 

Marine Areas. CBD = Convention on Biological Diversity. N = North. HAPC = habitat 

of particular concern. 
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 70941 

optimum sustainable population (as 

described in NMFS’ SARs). While no 

serious injury or mortality is anticipated 

or authorized here, PBR and annual 

serious injury and mortality from 

anthropogenic sources are included here 

as gross indicators of the status of the 

species or stocks and other threats. 

Marine mammal abundance estimates 

presented in this document represent 

the total number of individuals that 

make up a given stock or the total 

number estimated within a particular 

study or survey area. NMFS’ stock 

abundance estimates for most species 

represent the total estimate of 

individuals within the geographic area, 

if known, that comprises that stock. For 

some species, this geographic area may 

extend beyond U.S. waters. All managed 

stocks in this region are assessed in 

NMFS’ U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 

SARs. All values presented in table 1 

are the most recent available at the time 

of publication and are available online 

at: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/marinemammal-stock-assessments. 

Aside from the few species with 

stocks assigned for Puerto Rico and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands, individuals from the 

species affected would not be from the 

stocks described in the SARs. These 

stocks are not extensively studied but 

are provisionally being considered 

separate stocks for management 

purposes and further work to 

differentiate them from stocks in the 

Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are being 

conducted. However, these stocks are 

likely trans-boundary within, at 

minimum, waters near adjacent 

Caribbean Islands and are not likely to 

occur exclusively within the bounds of 

the U.S. EEZ. 

TABLE 1—SPECIES LIKELY IMPACTED BY THE SPECIFIED ACTIVITIES

Common name Scientific name Stock 

ESA/ 

MMPA 

status; 

strategic 

(Y/N) 1

Stock abundance 

(CV, Nmin, most recent 

abundance survey) 2

Modeled 

abundance 3

Order Cetartiodactyla—Cetacea—Superfamily Mysticeti (baleen whales) 

Family Balaenopteridae 

(rorquals): 

Humpback whale ................ Megaptera novaeangliae ........... .................................................... -/-; N 1,396 (0; 1,380; 2016) .............. 4,990 

Fin whale ............................ Balaenoptera physalus .............. .................................................... E/D; Y 6,802 (0.24; 5,573; 2016) ......... 11,672 

Sei whale ............................ Balaenoptera borealis ............... .................................................... E/D; Y 6,292 (1.02; 3,098; 2016) ......... 19,530 

Minke whale ........................ Balaenoptera acutorostrata ....... .................................................... -/-; N 21,968 (0.31; 17,002; 2016) ..... 13,784 

Blue whale .......................... Balaenoptera musculus ............. .................................................... E/D;Y unk (unk; 402; 1980–2008) ....... 191 

Superfamily Odontoceti (toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises) 

Family Physeteridae: 

Sperm whale ....................... Physeter macrocephalus ........... Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.E/D;Y 4,349 (0.28; 3,451; 2016) 4 ....... 64,015 

Family Kogiidae: 

Pygmy sperm whale ........... Kogia breviceps ......................... .................................................... -/-; N 7,750 (0.38; 5,689; 2016) ......... 26,043 

Dwarf sperm whale ............. Kogia sima ................................ .................................................... -/-; N 

Family Ziphiidae (beaked 

whales): 

Cuvier’s beaked Whale ....... Ziphius cavirostris ..................... Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.-/-; Y 5,744 (0.36, 4,282, 2016) 4 ....... 65,069 

Blainville’s beaked Whale ... Mesoplodon densirostris ........... .................................................... -/-; N 10,107 (0.27; 8,085; 2016) ....... ........................

True’s beaked whale .......... Mesoplodon mirus ..................... .................................................... -/-; N 

Gervais’ beaked whale ....... Mesoplodon europaeus ............. .................................................... -/-; N 

Family Delphinidae: 

Short finned pilot whale ...... Globicephala macrorhynchus .... Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.-/-;Y 28,924 (0.24; 23,637; 2016) 4 ... 264,907 

Rough-toothed dolphin ....... Steno bredanensis .................... .................................................... -/-; N 136 (1.0; 67; 2016) ................... 32,848 

Bottlenose dolphin .............. Tursiops truncatus ..................... Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.-/-; Y 62,851 (0.23; 51,914, 2016) 4 ... 418,151 

Pantropical spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata ..................... .................................................... -/-; N 6,593 (0.52; 4,367; 2016) ......... 321,740 

Atlantic spotted dolphin ...... Stenella frontalis ........................ Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.-/-; Y 39,921 (0.27; 32,032; 2016) 4 ... 259,519 

Spinner dolphin ................... Stenella longirostris ................... Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.-/-; Y 4,102 (0.99; 2,045; 2016) 4 ....... 152,511 

Clymene dolphin ................. Stenella clymene ....................... .................................................... -/-; N 4,237 (1.03; 2,071; 2016) ......... 181,209 

Striped dolphin .................... Stenella coeruleoalba ................ .................................................... -/-; N 67,036 (0.29; 52,939; 2016) ..... 412,729 

Fraser’s dolphin .................. Lagenodelphis hosei ................. .................................................... -/-; N unk ............................................. 19,585 

Risso’s dolphin .................... Grampus griseus ....................... .................................................... -/-; N 35,215(0.19; 30,051; 2016) ....... 78,205 

Common dolphin ................. Delphinus delphis ...................... .................................................... -/-; N 172,947 (0.21; 145,216; 2016) 473,260 

Melon-headed whale .......... Peponocephala electra ............. .................................................... -/-; N unk ............................................. 64,114 

Pygmy killer whale .............. Feresa attenuate ....................... .................................................... -/-; N unk ............................................. 9,001 

False killer whale ................ Pseudorca crassidens ............... .................................................... -/-; N 1,791 (0.56; 1,154; 2016) ......... 12,682 

Killer whale ......................... Orcinus orca .............................. .................................................... -/-; N unk ............................................. 972 

1ESA status: Endangered (E), Threatened (T)/MMPA status: Depleted (D). A dash (-) indicates that the species is not listed under the ESA or designated as depleted under the MMPA. Under the MMPA, a strategic stock is one for which the level of direct human-caused mortality exceeds PBR or which is determined to be 

declining and likely to be listed under the ESA within the foreseeable future. Any species or stock listed under the ESA is automatically designated under the MMPA 

as depleted and as a strategic stock. 2 NMFS marine mammal stock assessment reports online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessmentreports-region/. CV is coefficient of variation; Nmin is the minimum estimate of stock abundance; unknown (unk). 3 Modeled abundance value from U.S Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Area Marine Mammal Density (AFTT) (Roberts et al., 2023; Mannocci et al., 2017). 4Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands stocks have unknown abundance, therefore providing abundance information associated with the Atlantic stocks as point of 

reference. 


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70942 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 

As indicated above, all 27 species in 

table 1 temporally and spatially cooccur with the activity to the degree that 

take is reasonably likely to occur. 

Species that could potentially occur in 

the research area but are not likely to be 

harassed due to the rarity of their 

occurrence (i.e. are considered 

extralimital or rare visitors to the waters 

of the northwest Atlantic Ocean), or 

because their known migration through 

the area does not align with the survey 

dates, were omitted. 

A detailed description of the of the 

species likely to be affected by the 

geophysical survey, including brief 

introductions to the species and 

relevant stocks as well as available 

information regarding population trends 

and threats, and information regarding 

local occurrence, were provided in the 

Federal Register notice for the proposed 

IHA (88 FR 56964; August 21, 2023). 

Since that time, we are not aware of any 

changes in the status of these species 

and stocks; therefore, detailed 

descriptions are not provided here. 

Please refer to that Federal Register 

notice for these descriptions. Please also 

refer to NMFS’ website (https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/find-species) for 

generalized species accounts. 

Marine Mammal Hearing 

Hearing is the most important sensory 

modality for marine mammals 

underwater, and exposure to 

anthropogenic sound can have 

deleterious effects. To appropriately 

assess the potential effects of exposure 

to sound, it is necessary to understand 

the frequency ranges marine mammals 

are able to hear. Not all marine mammal 

species have equal hearing capabilities 

(e.g., Richardson et al., 1995; Wartzok 

and Ketten, 1999; Au and Hastings, 

2008). To reflect this, Southall et al. 

(2007, 2019) recommended that marine 

mammals be divided into hearing 

groups based on directly measured 

(behavioral or auditory evoked potential 

techniques) or estimated hearing ranges 

(behavioral response data, anatomical 

modeling, etc.). Note that no direct 

measurements of hearing ability have 

been successfully completed for 

mysticetes (i.e., low-frequency 

cetaceans). Subsequently, NMFS (2018) 

described generalized hearing ranges for 

these marine mammal hearing groups. 

Generalized hearing ranges were chosen 

based on the approximately 65 decibel 

(dB) threshold from the normalized 

composite audiograms, with the 

exception for lower limits for lowfrequency cetaceans where the lower 

bound was deemed to be biologically 

implausible and the lower bound from 

Southall et al. (2007) retained. Marine 

mammal hearing groups and their 

associated hearing ranges are provided 

in table 2. 

TABLE 2—MARINE MAMMAL HEARING GROUPS

[NMFS, 2018] 

Hearing group Generalized hearing 

range * 

Low-frequency (LF) cetaceans (baleen whales) .................................................................................................................... 7 Hz to 35 kHz. 

Mid-frequency (MF) cetaceans (dolphins, toothed whales, beaked whales, bottlenose whales) .......................................... 150 Hz to 160 kHz. 

High-frequency (HF) cetaceans (true porpoises, Kogia, river dolphins, Cephalorhynchid, Lagenorhynchus cruciger & L. 

australis).

275 Hz to 160 kHz. 

Phocid pinnipeds (PW) (underwater) (true seals) .................................................................................................................. 50 Hz to 86 kHz. 

Otariid pinnipeds (OW) (underwater) (sea lions and fur seals) ............................................................................................. 60 Hz to 39 kHz. 

* Represents the generalized hearing range for the entire group as a composite (i.e., all species within the group), where individual species’ 

hearing ranges are typically not as broad. Generalized hearing range chosen based on ∼65 dB threshold from normalized composite audiogram, 

with the exception for lower limits for LF cetaceans (Southall et al. 2007) and PW pinniped (approximation). 

The pinniped functional hearing 

group was modified from Southall et al. 

(2007) on the basis of data indicating 

that phocid species have consistently 

demonstrated an extended frequency 

range of hearing compared to otariids, 

especially in the higher frequency range 

(Hemila ̈ et al., 2006; Kastelein et al., 

2009; Reichmuth and Holt, 2013). 

For more detail concerning these 

groups and associated frequency ranges, 

please see NMFS (2018) for a review of 

available information. 

Potential Effects of Specified Activities 

on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat 

The effects of underwater noise from 

L–DEO’s survey activities have the 

potential to result in harassment of 

marine mammals in the vicinity of the 

survey area. The notice of proposed IHA 

(88 FR 56964; August 21, 2023) 

included a discussion of the effects of 

anthropogenic noise on marine 

mammals and the potential effects of 

underwater noise from L–DEO on 

marine mammals and their habitat. That 

information and analysis is not repeated 

here; please refer to the notice of 

proposed IHA (88 FR 56964; August 21, 

2023). 

Estimated Take of Marine Mammals 

This section provides an estimate of 

the number of incidental takes 

authorized through the IHA, which will 

inform both NMFS’ consideration of 

‘‘small numbers,’’ and the negligible 

impact determinations. 

Harassment is the only type of take 

expected to result from these activities. 

Except with respect to certain activities 

not pertinent here, section 3(18) of the 

MMPA defines ‘‘harassment’’ as any act 

of pursuit, torment, or annoyance, 

which (i) has the potential to injure a 

marine mammal or marine mammal 

stock in the wild (Level A harassment); 

or (ii) has the potential to disturb a 

marine mammal or marine mammal 

stock in the wild by causing disruption 

of behavioral patterns, including, but 

not limited to, migration, breathing, 

nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering 

(Level B harassment). 

Authorized takes would primarily be 

Level B harassment, as use of the airgun 

arrays have the potential to result in 

disruption of behavioral patterns for 

individual marine mammals. There is 

also some potential for auditory injury 

(Level A harassment) to result for 

species of certain hearing groups due to 

the size of the predicted auditory injury 

zones for those groups. Auditory injury 

is less likely to occur for mid-frequency 

species, due to their relative lack of 

sensitivity to the frequencies at which 

the primary energy of an airgun signal 

is found, as well as such species’ 

general lower sensitivity to auditory 

injury as compared to high-frequency 

cetaceans. As discussed in further detail 

below, we do not expect auditory injury 

for mid-frequency cetaceans. The 

mitigation and monitoring measures are 

expected to minimize the severity of 

such taking to the extent practicable. No 

mortality is anticipated as a result of 


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these activities. Below we describe how 

the take numbers are estimated. 

For acoustic impacts, generally 

speaking, we estimate take by 

considering: (1) acoustic thresholds 

above which NMFS believes the best 

available science indicates marine 

mammals will be behaviorally harassed 

or incur some degree of permanent 

hearing impairment; (2) the area or 

volume of water that will be ensonified 

above these levels in a day; (3) the 

density or occurrence of marine 

mammals within these ensonified areas; 

and, (4) the number of days of activities. 

We note that while these factors can 

contribute to a basic calculation to 

provide an initial prediction of potential 

takes, additional information that can 

qualitatively inform take estimates is 

also sometimes available (e.g., previous 

monitoring results or average group 

size). Below, we describe the factors 

considered here in more detail and 

present the take estimates. 

Acoustic Thresholds 

NMFS recommends the use of 

acoustic thresholds that identify the 

received level of underwater sound 

above which exposed marine mammals 

would be reasonably expected to be 

behaviorally harassed (equated to Level 

B harassment) or to incur Permanent 

Threshold Shift (PTS) of some degree 

(equated to Level A harassment). 

Level B Harassment—Though 

significantly driven by received level, 

the onset of behavioral disturbance from 

anthropogenic noise exposure is also 

informed to varying degrees by other 

factors related to the source or exposure 

context (e.g., frequency, predictability, 

duty cycle, duration of the exposure, 

signal-to-noise ratio, distance to the 

source), the environment (e.g., 

bathymetry, other noises in the area, 

predators in the area), and the receiving 

animals (hearing, motivation, 

experience, demography, life stage, 

depth) and can be difficult to predict 

(e.g., Southall et al., 2007, 2021, Ellison 

et al., 2012). Based on what the 

available science indicates and the 

practical need to use a threshold based 

on a metric that is both predictable and 

measurable for most activities, NMFS 

typically uses a generalized acoustic 

threshold based on received level to 

estimate the onset of behavioral 

harassment. NMFS generally predicts 

that marine mammals are likely to be 

behaviorally harassed in a manner 

considered to be Level B harassment 

when exposed to underwater 

anthropogenic noise above root-meansquared pressure received levels (RMS 

SPL) of 120 dB (referenced to 1 

micropascal (re 1 mPa)) for continuous 

(e.g., vibratory pile driving, drilling) and 

above RMS SPL 160 dB re 1 mPa for nonexplosive impulsive (e.g., seismic 

airguns) or intermittent (e.g., scientific 

sonar) sources. Generally speaking, 

Level B harassment take estimates based 

on these behavioral harassment 

thresholds are expected to include any 

likely takes by Temporary Threshold 

Shift (TTS) as, in most cases, the 

likelihood of TTS occurs at distances 

from the source less than those at which 

behavioral harassment is likely. TTS of 

a sufficient degree can manifest as 

behavioral harassment, as reduced 

hearing sensitivity and the potential 

reduced opportunities to detect 

important signals (conspecific 

communication, predators, prey) may 

result in changes in behavior patterns 

that would not otherwise occur. 

L–DEO’s survey includes the use of 

impulsive seismic sources (i.e., airguns), 

and therefore the 160 dB re 1 mPa is 

applicable for analysis of Level B 

harassment. 

Level A Harassment—NMFS’ 

Technical Guidance for Assessing the 

Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on 

Marine Mammal Hearing (Version 2.0) 

(Technical Guidance, 2018) identifies 

dual criteria to assess auditory injury 

(Level A harassment) to five different 

marine mammal groups (based on 

hearing sensitivity) as a result of 

exposure to noise from two different 

types of sources (impulsive or nonimpulsive). L–DEO’s survey includes 

the use of impulsive seismic sources 

(e.g., airguns). 

These thresholds are provided in the 

table below. The references, analysis, 

and methodology used in the 

development of the thresholds are 

described in NMFS’ 2018 Technical 

Guidance, which may be accessed at: 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/marinemammal-acoustic-technical-guidance. 

TABLE 3—THRESHOLDS IDENTIFYING THE ONSET OF PERMANENT THRESHOLD SHIFT

Hearing group 

PTS onset acoustic thresholds * 

(received level) 

Impulsive Non-impulsive 

Low-Frequency (LF) Cetaceans ...................................... Cell 1: Lpk,flat: 219 dB; LE,LF,24h: 183 dB ......................... Cell 2: LE,LF,24h: 199 dB. 

Mid-Frequency (MF) Cetaceans ...................................... Cell 3: Lpk,flat: 230 dB; LE,MF,24h: 185 dB ........................ Cell 4: LE,MF,24h: 198 dB. 

High-Frequency (HF) Cetaceans ..................................... Cell 5: Lpk,flat: 202 dB; LE,HF,24h: 155 dB ........................ Cell 6: LE,HF,24h: 173 dB. 

Phocid Pinnipeds (PW) (Underwater) ............................. Cell 7: Lpk,flat: 218 dB; LE,PW,24h: 185 dB ....................... Cell 8: LE,PW,24h: 201 dB. 

Otariid Pinnipeds (OW) (Underwater) ............................. Cell 9: Lpk,flat: 232 dB; LE,OW,24h: 203 dB ....................... Cell 10: LE,OW,24h: 219 dB. 

* Dual metric acoustic thresholds for impulsive sounds: Use whichever results in the largest isopleth for calculating PTS onset. If a non-impulsive sound has the potential of exceeding the peak sound pressure level thresholds associated with impulsive sounds, these thresholds should 

also be considered. 

Note: Peak sound pressure (Lpk) has a reference value of 1 μPa, and cumulative sound exposure level (LE) has a reference value of 1μPa2s. 

In this table, thresholds are abbreviated to reflect American National Standards Institute standards (ANSI 2013). However, peak sound pressure 

is defined by ANSI as incorporating frequency weighting, which is not the intent for this Technical Guidance. Hence, the subscript ‘‘flat’’ is being 

included to indicate peak sound pressure should be flat weighted or unweighted within the generalized hearing range. The subscript associated 

with cumulative sound exposure level thresholds indicates the designated marine mammal auditory weighting function (LF, MF, and HF 

cetaceans, and PW and OW pinnipeds) and that the recommended accumulation period is 24 hours. The cumulative sound exposure level 

thresholds could be exceeded in a multitude of ways (i.e., varying exposure levels and durations, duty cycle). When possible, it is valuable for 

action proponents to indicate the conditions under which these acoustic thresholds will be exceeded. 

Ensonified Area 

Here, we describe operational and 

environmental parameters of the activity 

that are used in estimating the area 

ensonified above the acoustic 

thresholds, including source levels and 

transmission loss coefficient. 

When the Technical Guidance was 

published (NMFS, 2016), in recognition 

of the fact that ensonified area/volume 

could be more technically challenging 

to predict because of the duration 

component in the new thresholds, we 

developed a user spreadsheet that 

includes tools to help predict a simple 

isopleth that can be used in conjunction 

with marine mammal density or 


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occurrence to help predict takes. We 

note that because of some of the 

assumptions included in the methods 

used for these tools, we anticipate that 

isopleths produced are typically going 

to be overestimates of some degree, 

which may result in some degree of 

overestimate of Level A harassment 

take. However, these tools offer the best 

way to predict appropriate isopleths 

when more sophisticated 3D modeling 

methods are not available, and NMFS 

continues to develop ways to 

quantitatively refine these tools, and 

will qualitatively address the output 

where appropriate. 

The survey would entail the use of a 

36-airgun array with a total discharge 

volume of 6,600 in3 at a tow depth of 

12 m and two 45/105 in3 GI airguns at 

a tow depth of 3 m. L–DEO’s model 

results are used to determine the 160 

dBrms radius for both the airgun sources 

down to a maximum depth of 2,000 m. 

Received sound levels have been 

predicted by L–DEO’s model (Diebold et 

al. 2010) as a function of distance from 

the 36-airgun array. This modeling 

approach uses ray tracing for the direct 

wave traveling from the array to the 

receiver and its associated source ghost 

(reflection at the air-water interface in 

the vicinity of the array), in a constantvelocity half-space (infinite 

homogeneous ocean layer, unbounded 

by a seafloor). In addition, propagation 

measurements of pulses from the 36- 

airgun array at a tow depth of 6 m have 

been reported in deep water (∼1,600 m), 

intermediate water depth on the slope 

(∼600–1,100 m), and shallow water (∼50 

m) in the Gulf of Mexico (Tolstoy et al. 

2009; Diebold et al. 2010). 

For deep and intermediate water 

cases, the field measurements cannot be 

used readily to derive the harassment 

isopleths, as at those sites the 

calibration hydrophone was located at a 

roughly constant depth of 350–550 m, 

which may not intersect all the SPL 

isopleths at their widest point from the 

sea surface down to the assumed 

maximum relevant water depth (∼2,000 

m) for marine mammals. At short 

ranges, where the direct arrivals 

dominate and the effects of seafloor 

interactions are minimal, the data at the 

deep sites are suitable for comparison 

with modeled levels at the depth of the 

calibration hydrophone. At longer 

ranges, the comparison with the 

model—constructed from the maximum 

SPL through the entire water column at 

varying distances from the airgun 

array—is the most relevant. 

In deep and intermediate water 

depths at short ranges, sound levels for 

direct arrivals recorded by the 

calibration hydrophone and L–DEO 

model results for the same array tow 

depth are in good alignment (see Figures 

12 and 14 in Diebold et al. 2010). 

Consequently, isopleths falling within 

this domain can be predicted reliably by 

the L–DEO model, although they may be 

imperfectly sampled by measurements 

recorded at a single depth. At greater 

distances, the calibration data show that 

seafloor-reflected and sub-seafloorrefracted arrivals dominate, whereas the 

direct arrivals become weak and/or 

incoherent (see Figures 11, 12, and 16 

in Diebold et al. 2010). Aside from local 

topography effects, the region around 

the critical distance is where the 

observed levels rise closest to the model 

curve. However, the observed sound 

levels are found to fall almost entirely 

below the model curve. Thus, analysis 

of the Gulf of Mexico calibration 

measurements demonstrates that 

although simple, the L–DEO model is a 

robust tool for conservatively estimating 

isopleths. 

The high-energy survey would 

acquire data with the 36-airgun array at 

a tow depth of 12 m and the low-energy 

surveys would use two GI airguns at a 

3m tow depth. For deep water 

(>1,000 m), we use the deep-water radii 

obtained from L–DEO model results 

down to a maximum water depth of 

2,000 m for the 36-airgun array and the 

two GI airguns. The radii for 

intermediate water depths (100– 

1,000 m) are derived from the deepwater ones by applying a correction 

factor (multiplication) of 1.5, such that 

observed levels at very near offsets fall 

below the corrected mitigation curve 

(see Figure 16 in Diebold et al. 2010). 

L–DEO’s modeling methodology is 

described in greater detail in L–DEO’s 

application. The estimated distances to 

the Level B harassment isopleth for the 

airgun configuration are shown in table 

4. 

TABLE 4—PREDICTED RADIAL DISTANCES FROM THE R/V LANGSETH SEISMIC SOURCE TO ISOPLETH CORRESPONDING TO

LEVEL B HARASSMENT THRESHOLD

Airgun configuration Tow depth 

(m) 

Water depth 

(m) 

Predicted 

distances (in m) to 

the Level B 

harassment 

threshold 

4 strings, 36 airguns, 6,600 in3 ....................................................................................... 12 >1,000 1 6,733 

Two 45/105 in GI airguns ................................................................................................ 3 >1,000 1 438 

100–1,000 2 657 

1 Distance is based on L–DEO model results. 

2 Distance is based on L–DEO model results with a 1.5 × correction factor between deep and intermediate water depths. 

TABLE 5—MODELED RADIAL DISTANCE TO ISOPLETHS CORRESPONDING TO LEVEL A HARASSMENT THRESHOLDS

Low 

frequency 

Mid 

frequency 

High 

frequency 

MCS Surveys 

PTS SELcum ................................................................................................................................. 320.2 0 1 

PTS Peak ..................................................................................................................................... 38.9 13.6 268.3 

The largest distance (in bold) of the dual criteria (SELcum or Peak) was used to estimate threshold distances and potential takes by Level A 

harassment. 

Table 5 presents the modeled PTS 

isopleths for each cetacean hearing 

group based on L–DEO modeling 

incorporated in the companion user 

spreadsheet, for the high-energy surveys 

with the shortest shot interval (i.e., 


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greatest potential to cause PTS based on 

accumulated sound energy) (NMFS 

2018). 

Predicted distances to Level A 

harassment isopleths, which vary based 

on marine mammal hearing groups, 

were calculated based on modeling 

performed by L–DEO using the Nucleus 

software program and the NMFS user 

spreadsheet, described below. The 

acoustic thresholds for impulsive 

sounds (e.g., airguns) contained in the 

NMFS Technical Guidance were 

presented as dual metric acoustic 

thresholds using both cumulative Sound 

Exposure Level (SELcum) and peak sound 

pressure metrics (NMFS 2016). As dual 

metrics, NMFS considers onset of PTS 

(Level A harassment) to have occurred 

when either one of the two metrics is 

exceeded (i.e., metric resulting in the 

largest isopleth). The SELcum metric 

considers both level and duration of 

exposure, as well as auditory weighting 

functions by marine mammal hearing 

group. 

The SELcum for the 36-airgun array is 

derived from calculating the modified 

farfield signature. The farfield signature 

is often used as a theoretical 

representation of the source level. To 

compute the farfield signature, the 

source level is estimated at a large 

distance (right) below the array (e.g., 9 

km), and this level is back projected 

mathematically to a notional distance of 

1 m from the array’s geometrical center. 

However, it has been recognized that the 

source level from the theoretical farfield 

signature is never physically achieved at 

the source when the source is an array 

of multiple airguns separated in space 

(Tolstoy et al., 2009). Near the source (at 

short ranges, distances <1 km), the 

pulses of sound pressure from each 

individual airgun in the source array do 

not stack constructively as they do for 

the theoretical farfield signature. The 

pulses from the different airguns spread 

out in time such that the source levels 

observed or modeled are the result of 

the summation of pulses from a few 

airguns, not the full array (Tolstoy et al., 

2009). At larger distances, away from 

the source array center, sound pressure 

of all the airguns in the array stack 

coherently, but not within one time 

sample, resulting in smaller source 

levels (a few dB) than the source level 

derived from the far-field signature. 

Because the far-field signature does not 

take into account the large array effect 

near the source and is calculated as a 

point source, the far-field signature is 

not an appropriate measure of the sound 

source level for large arrays. See L– 

DEO’s application for further detail on 

acoustic modeling. 

Auditory injury is unlikely to occur 

for mid-frequency cetaceans, given very 

small modeled zones of injury for those 

species (all estimated zones less than 15 

m for mid-frequency cetaceans), in 

context of distributed source dynamics. 

In consideration of the received sound 

levels in the near-field as described 

above, we expect the potential for Level 

A harassment of mid-frequency 

cetaceans to be de minimis, even before 

the likely moderating effects of aversion 

and/or other compensatory behaviors 

(e.g., Nachtigall et al., 2018) are 

considered. We do not believe that 

Level A harassment is a likely outcome 

for any mid-frequency cetacean and do 

not propose to authorize any take by 

Level A harassment for these species. 

The Level A and Level B harassment 

estimates are based on a consideration 

of the number of marine mammals that 

could be within the area around the 

operating airgun array where received 

levels of sound ≥160 dB re 1 mPa rms 

are predicted to occur (see table 1). The 

estimated numbers are based on the 

densities (numbers per unit area) of 

marine mammals expected to occur in 

the area in the absence of seismic 

surveys. To the extent that marine 

mammals tend to move away from 

seismic sources before the sound level 

reaches the criterion level and tend not 

to approach an operating airgun array, 

these estimates likely overestimate the 

numbers actually exposed to the 

specified level of sound. 

Marine Mammal Occurrence 

In this section we provide information 

about the occurrence of marine 

mammals, including density or other 

relevant information which will inform 

the take calculations. 

Habitat-based stratified marine 

mammal densities for the North Atlantic 

and Puerto Rico are taken from the US 

Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and 

Testing Area Marine Mammal Density 

(Roberts et al., 2023; Mannocci et al., 

2017), which represent the best 

available information regarding marine 

mammal densities in the survey area. 

This density information incorporates 

visual line-transect surveys of marine 

mammals for over 35 years, resulting in 

various studies that estimated the 

abundance, density, and distributions of 

marine mammal populations. The 

habitat-based density models consisted 

of 10 km x 10 km grid cells. Densities 

in the grid cells for the AFTT Area 

south of 21° N were averaged per month 

for each of two water depth categories 

(intermediate and deep); for most 

months, the densities for each species 

were the same. More information is 

available online at https://

seamap.env.duke.edu/models/Duke/ 

AFTT/. 

For most species, the average monthly 

densities were the same throughout the 

year; densities for fin whale, sei whale, 

humpback whale, and Atlantic whitesided dolphin varied by month, so the 

highest monthly densities were used. 

Take Estimation 

Here we describe how the information 

provided above is synthesized to 

produce a quantitative estimate of the 

take that is reasonably likely to occur 

and authorized. In order to estimate the 

number of marine mammals predicted 

to be exposed to sound levels that 

would result in Level A or Level B 

harassment, radial distances from the 

airgun array to the predicted isopleth 

corresponding to the Level A 

harassment and Level B harassment 

thresholds are calculated, as described 

above. Those radial distances are then 

used to calculate the area(s) around the 

airgun array predicted to be ensonified 

to sound levels that exceed the 

harassment thresholds. The distance for 

the 160-dB Level B harassment 

threshold and PTS (Level A harassment) 

thresholds (based on L–DEO model 

results) was used to draw a buffer 

around the area expected to be 

ensonified (i.e., the survey area). The 

ensonified areas were then increased by 

25 percent to account for potential 

delays, which is the equivalent to 

adding 25 percent to the line km to be 

surveyed. The density for each species 

was then multiplied by the daily 

ensonified areas (increased as described 

above), and then multiplied by the 

number of survey days (24) to estimate 

potential takes (see Appendix B of L– 

DEO’s application for more 

information). 

L–DEO generally assumed that their 

estimates of marine mammal exposures 

above harassment thresholds equate to 

take and requested authorization of 

those takes. Those estimates in turn 

form the basis for our take authorization 

numbers. For the species for which 

NMFS does not expect there to be a 

reasonable potential for take by Level A 

harassment to occur, i.e., mid-frequency 

cetaceans, we have added L–DEO’s 

estimated exposures above Level A 

harassment thresholds to their estimated 

exposures above the Level B harassment 

threshold to produce a total number of 

incidents of take by Level B harassment 

that is authorized. Estimated exposures 

and take numbers for authorization are 

shown in table 6. As requested by L– 

DEO with NMFS concurrence, when 

zero take was calculated we have 

authorized one group size of take as a 


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precaution for species that could 

potentially occur in the survey area. 

TABLE 6—TAKE NUMBERS

Species Stock 

Estimated take Authorized take Modeled 

abundance 2

Percent of 

stock Level B Level A Level B Level A 

Humpback whale .................................. Gulf of Maine ....................................... 262 12 262 12 4,990 5.5 

Fin whale .............................................. Western North Atlantic ......................... 0.4 0 1 2 0 11,672 0.2 

Sei whale .............................................. Nova Scotia .......................................... 22 1 22 1 19,530 0.1 

Minke whale ......................................... Canadian East Coast ........................... 58 3 58 3 13,784 0.4 

Blue whale ............................................ Western North Atlantic ......................... 1 0 1 0 191 0.5 

Sperm whale ........................................ North Atlantic ....................................... 481 1 482 0 64,105 0.8 

Kogia spp ............................................. .............................................................. 354 14 354 14 26,043 1.4 

Beaked whale ....................................... .............................................................. 539 1 540 0 65,069 0.8 

Pilot whales .......................................... .............................................................. 1,830 3 1,833 0 264,907 0.7 

Rough-toothed dolphin ......................... Western North Atlantic ......................... 476 1 477 0 32,848 1.5 

Bottlenose dolphin ................................ Western North Atlantic Offshore .......... 2,128 4 2,132 0 418,151 0.5 

Pantropical spotted dolphin .................. Western North Atlantic ......................... 778 1 779 0 321,740 0.2 

Atlantic spotted dolphin ........................ Western North Atlantic ......................... 1,537 3 1,540 0 259,519 0.6 

Spinner dolphin .................................... Western North Atlantic ......................... 1,928 4 1,932 0 152,511 1.3 

Clymene dolphin ................................... Western North Atlantic ......................... 1,586 3 1,589 0 181,209 0.9 

Striped dolphin ..................................... Western North Atlantic ......................... 317 1 318 0 412,729 0.1 

Fraser’s dolphin .................................... Western North Atlantic ......................... 213 0 213 0 19,585 1.1 

Risso’s dolphin ..................................... Western North Atlantic ......................... 164 0 164 0 78,205 0.2 

Common dolphin .................................. Western North Atlantic ......................... 88 0 88 0 473,260 <0.1 

Melon-headed whale ............................ Western North Atlantic ......................... 985 2 987 0 64,114 1.5 

Pygmy killer whale ............................... Western North Atlantic ......................... 130 0 130 0 9,001 1.4 

False killer whale .................................. Western North Atlantic ......................... 218 0 218 0 12,682 1.7 

Killer whale ........................................... Western North Atlantic ......................... 2 0 2 0 972 0.2 

1Group size from Jefferson et al., 2015. 2 Modeled abundance (Roberts et al., 2023). 

Mitigation 

In order to issue an IHA under section 

101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA, NMFS must 

set forth the permissible methods of 

taking pursuant to the activity, and 

other means of effecting the least 

practicable impact on the species or 

stock and its habitat, paying particular 

attention to rookeries, mating grounds, 

and areas of similar significance, and on 

the availability of the species or stock 

for taking for certain subsistence uses 

(latter not applicable for this action). 

NMFS regulations require applicants for 

incidental take authorizations to include 

information about the availability and 

feasibility (economic and technological) 

of equipment, methods, and manner of 

conducting the activity or other means 

of effecting the least practicable adverse 

impact upon the affected species or 

stocks, and their habitat (50 CFR 

216.104(a)(11)). 

In evaluating how mitigation may or 

may not be appropriate to ensure the 

least practicable adverse impact on 

species or stocks and their habitat, as 

well as subsistence uses where 

applicable, NMFS considers two 

primary factors: 

(1) The manner in which, and the 

degree to which, the successful 

implementation of the measure(s) is 

expected to reduce impacts to marine 

mammals, marine mammal species or 

stocks, and their habitat. This considers 

the nature of the potential adverse 

impact being mitigated (likelihood, 

scope, range). It further considers the 

likelihood that the measure will be 

effective if implemented (probability of 

accomplishing the mitigating result if 

implemented as planned), the 

likelihood of effective implementation 

(probability implemented as planned); 

and 

(2) The practicability of the measures 

for applicant implementation, which 

may consider such things as cost, and 

impact on operations. 

Vessel-Based Visual Mitigation 

Monitoring 

Visual monitoring requires the use of 

trained observers (herein referred to as 

visual protected species observers 

(PSO)) to scan the ocean surface for the 

presence of marine mammals. The area 

to be scanned visually includes 

primarily the shutdown zone (SZ), 

within which observation of certain 

marine mammals requires shutdown of 

the acoustic source, but also a buffer 

zone and, to the extent possible 

depending on conditions, the 

surrounding waters. The buffer zone 

means an area beyond the SZ to be 

monitored for the presence of marine 

mammals that may enter the SZ. During 

pre-start clearance monitoring (i.e., 

before ramp-up begins), the buffer zone 

also acts as an extension of the SZ in 

that observations of marine mammals 

within the buffer zone would also 

prevent airgun operations from 

beginning (i.e., ramp-up). The buffer 

zone encompasses the area at and below 

the sea surface from the edge of the 0– 

500 m SZ, out to a radius of 1,000 m 

from the edges of the airgun array (500– 

1,000 m). This 1,000-m zone (SZ plus 

buffer) represents the pre-start clearance 

zone. Visual monitoring of the SZ and 

adjacent waters is intended to establish 

and, when visual conditions allow, 

maintain zones around the sound source 

that are clear of marine mammals, 

thereby reducing or eliminating the 

potential for injury and minimizing the 

potential for more severe behavioral 

reactions for animals occurring closer to 

the vessel. Visual monitoring of the 

buffer zone is intended to (1) provide 

additional protection to marine 

mammals that may be in the vicinity of 

the vessel during pre-start clearance, 

and (2) during airgun use, aid in 

establishing and maintaining the SZ by 

alerting the visual observer and crew of 

marine mammals that are outside of, but 

may approach and enter, the SZ. 

L–DEO must use dedicated, trained, 

and NMFS-approved PSOs. The PSOs 

must have no tasks other than to 

conduct observational effort, record 

observational data, and communicate 

with and instruct relevant vessel crew 

with regard to the presence of marine 

mammals and mitigation requirements. 

PSO resumes shall be provided to 

NMFS for approval. 

At least one of the visual and two of 

the acoustic PSOs (discussed below) 

aboard the vessel must have a minimum 

of 90 days at-sea experience working in 

those roles, respectively, with no more 


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1High-energy survey effort refers to use of the 36- 

airgun, 6,600 in3 array. 

2Low-energy survey effort refers to use of the 2 

45/105-in3 GI airguns, 90-in3 array. 

than 18 months elapsed since the 

conclusion of the at-sea experience. One 

visual PSO with such experience shall 

be designated as the lead for the entire 

protected species observation team. The 

lead PSO shall serve as primary point of 

contact for the vessel operator and 

ensure all PSO requirements per the 

IHA are met. To the maximum extent 

practicable, the experienced PSOs 

should be scheduled to be on duty with 

those PSOs with appropriate training 

but who have not yet gained relevant 

experience. 

During survey operations (e.g., any 

day on which use of the airgun array is 

planned to occur, and whenever the 

airgun array is in the water, whether 

activated or not), a minimum of two 

visual PSOs must be on duty and 

conducting visual observations at all 

times during daylight hours (i.e., from 

30 minutes prior to sunrise through 30 

minutes following sunset). Visual 

monitoring of the pre-start clearance 

zone must begin no less than 30 minutes 

prior to ramp-up, and monitoring must 

continue until 1 hour after use of the 

airgun array ceases or until 30 minutes 

past sunset. Visual PSOs shall 

coordinate to ensure 360° visual 

coverage around the vessel from the 

most appropriate observation posts, and 

shall conduct visual observations using 

binoculars and the naked eye while free 

from distractions and in a consistent, 

systematic, and diligent manner. 

PSOs shall establish and monitor the 

shutdown and buffer zones. These zones 

shall be based upon the radial distance 

from the edges of the airgun array 

(rather than being based on the center of 

the array or around the vessel itself). 

During use of the airgun array (i.e., 

anytime airguns are active, including 

ramp-up), detections of marine 

mammals within the buffer zone (but 

outside the SZ) shall be communicated 

to the operator to prepare for the 

potential shutdown of the airgun array. 

Visual PSOs will immediately 

communicate all observations to the on 

duty acoustic PSO(s), including any 

determination by the PSO regarding 

species identification, distance, and 

bearing and the degree of confidence in 

the determination. Any observations of 

marine mammals by crew members 

shall be relayed to the PSO team. During 

good conditions (e.g., daylight hours; 

Beaufort sea state (BSS) 3 or less), visual 

PSOs shall conduct observations when 

the airgun array is not operating for 

comparison of sighting rates and 

behavior with and without use of the 

airgun array and between acquisition 

periods, to the maximum extent 

practicable. 

Visual PSOs may be on watch for a 

maximum of 4 consecutive hours 

followed by a break of at least 1 hour 

between watches and may conduct a 

maximum of 12 hours of observation per 

24-hour period. Combined observational 

duties (visual and acoustic but not at 

same time) may not exceed 12 hours per 

24-hour period for any individual PSO. 

L–DEO must notify the NMFS 

Southeast Regional Office (SERO), 

Nicole Angeli (DPNR Virgin Islands), 

and Grisel Rodriguez Ferrer (DNR 

Puerto Rico) of the start and end date of 

airgun operations in the survey area via 

email (nmfs.ser.research.notification@

noaa.gov; nicole.angeli@dpnr.vi.gov; 

grodriguez@drna.pr.gov). 

Passive Acoustic Monitoring 

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) 

means the use of trained personnel 

(sometimes referred to as PAM 

operators, herein referred to as acoustic 

PSOs) to operate PAM equipment to 

acoustically detect the presence of 

marine mammals. Acoustic monitoring 

involves acoustically detecting marine 

mammals regardless of distance from 

the source, as localization of animals 

may not always be possible. Acoustic 

monitoring is intended to further 

support visual monitoring (during 

daylight hours) in maintaining an SZ 

around the sound source that is clear of 

marine mammals. In cases where visual 

monitoring is not effective (e.g., due to 

weather, nighttime), acoustic 

monitoring may be used to allow certain 

activities to occur, as further detailed 

below. 

PAM would take place in addition to 

the visual monitoring program. Visual 

monitoring typically is not effective 

during periods of poor visibility or at 

night, and even with good visibility, is 

unable to detect marine mammals when 

they are below the surface or beyond 

visual range. Acoustic monitoring can 

be used in addition to visual 

observations to improve detection, 

identification, and localization of 

cetaceans. The acoustic monitoring 

would serve to alert visual PSOs (if on 

duty) when vocalizing cetaceans are 

detected. It is only useful when marine 

mammals vocalize, but it can be 

effective either by day or by night, and 

does not depend on good visibility. It 

would be monitored in real time so that 

the visual observers can be advised 

when cetaceans are detected. 

The R/V Langseth will use a towed 

PAM system, which must be monitored 

by at a minimum one on duty acoustic 

PSO beginning at least 30 minutes prior 

to ramp-up and at all times during use 

of the airgun array. Acoustic PSOs may 

be on watch for a maximum of 4 

consecutive hours followed by a break 

of at least 1 hour between watches and 

may conduct a maximum of 12 hours of 

observation per 24-hour period. 

Combined observational duties (acoustic 

and visual but not at same time) may 

not exceed 12 hours per 24-hour period 

for any individual PSO. 

Survey activity may continue for 30 

minutes when the PAM system 

malfunctions or is damaged, while the 

PAM operator diagnoses the issue. If the 

diagnosis indicates that the PAM system 

must be repaired to solve the problem, 

operations may continue for an 

additional 10 hours without acoustic 

monitoring during daylight hours only 

under the following conditions: 

• Sea state is less than or equal to 

BSS 4; 

• No marine mammals (excluding 

delphinids) detected solely by PAM in 

the applicable SZ in the previous 2 

hours; 

• NMFS is notified via email as soon 

as practicable with the time and 

location in which operations began 

occurring without an active PAM 

system; and 

• Operations with an active airgun 

array, but without an operating PAM 

system, do not exceed a cumulative total 

of 10 hours in any 24-hour period. 

Establishment of Shutdown and PreStart Clearance Zones 

A SZ is a defined area within which 

occurrence of a marine mammal triggers 

mitigation action intended to reduce the 

potential for certain outcomes, e.g., 

auditory injury, disruption of critical 

behaviors. The PSOs must establish and 

monitor shutdown zones and additional 

buffer zones. During high energy survey 

effort,1 the shutdown zone shall be 500 

m with an additional 500 m buffer zone 

(total 1,000 m). During low energy 

survey effort,2 the shutdown zone shall 

be 100 m with an additional 100 m 

buffer zone (total 200 m). 

The 500 m or 100 m SZ would be 

based on radial distance from the edge 

of the airgun array (rather than being 

based on the center of the array or 

around the vessel itself). With certain 

exceptions (described below), if a 

marine mammal appears within or 

enters this zone, the airgun array would 

be shut down. 

The pre-start clearance zone is 

defined as the area that must be clear of 

marine mammals prior to beginning 

ramp-up of the airgun array, and 

includes the SZ plus the buffer zone. 


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Detections of marine mammals within 

the pre-start clearance zone would 

prevent airgun operations from 

beginning (i.e., ramp-up). 

The 500 m or 100 m SZ is intended 

to be precautionary in the sense that it 

would be expected to contain sound 

exceeding the injury criteria for all 

cetacean hearing groups, (based on the 

dual criteria of SELcum and peak Sound 

Pressure Level (SPL)), while also 

providing a consistent, reasonably 

observable zone within which PSOs 

would typically be able to conduct 

effective observational effort. 

Additionally, a 500 m or 100 m SZ is 

expected to minimize the likelihood 

that marine mammals will be exposed to 

levels likely to result in more severe 

behavioral responses. Although 

significantly greater distances may be 

observed from an elevated platform 

under good conditions, we believe that 

500 m or 100 m is likely regularly 

attainable for PSOs using the naked eye 

during typical conditions. The pre-start 

clearance zone simply represents the 

addition of a buffer to the SZ, doubling 

the SZ size during pre-clearance. 

An extended SZ of 1,500 m or 500 m 

must be enforced for all beaked whales 

and Kogia species. No buffer of this 

extended SZ is required, as NMFS 

concludes that this extended SZ is 

sufficiently protective to mitigate 

harassment to beaked whales and Kogia 

species. 

Pre-Start Clearance and Ramp-Up 

Ramp-up (sometimes referred to as 

‘‘soft start’’) means the gradual and 

systematic increase of emitted sound 

levels from an airgun array. Ramp-up 

begins by first activating a single airgun 

of the smallest volume, followed by 

doubling the number of active elements 

in stages until the full complement of an 

array’s airguns are active. Each stage 

should be approximately the same 

duration, and the total duration should 

not be less than approximately 20 

minutes. The intent of pre-start 

clearance observation (30 minutes) is to 

ensure no marine mammals are 

observed within the pre-start clearance 

zone (or extended SZ, for beaked whales 

and Kogia spp.) prior to the beginning 

of ramp-up. During the pre-start 

clearance period is the only time 

observations of marine mammals in the 

buffer zone would prevent operations 

(i.e., the beginning of ramp-up). The 

intent of ramp-up is to warn marine 

mammals of pending seismic survey 

operations and to allow sufficient time 

for those animals to leave the immediate 

vicinity prior to the sound source 

reaching full intensity. A ramp-up 

procedure, involving a step-wise 

increase in the number of airguns firing 

and total array volume until all 

operational airguns are activated and 

the full volume is achieved, is required 

at all times as part of the activation of 

the airgun array. All operators must 

adhere to the following pre-start 

clearance and ramp-up requirements: 

• The operator must notify a 

designated PSO of the planned start of 

ramp-up as agreed upon with the lead 

PSO; the notification time should not be 

less than 60 minutes prior to the 

planned ramp-up in order to allow the 

PSOs time to monitor the pre-start 

clearance zone (and extended SZ) for 30 

minutes prior to the initiation of rampup (pre-start clearance); 

• Ramp-ups shall be scheduled so as 

to minimize the time spent with the 

source activated prior to reaching the 

designated run-in; 

• One of the PSOs conducting prestart clearance observations must be 

notified again immediately prior to 

initiating ramp-up procedures and the 

operator must receive confirmation from 

the PSO to proceed; 

• Ramp-up may not be initiated if any 

marine mammal is within the applicable 

shutdown or buffer zone. If a marine 

mammal is observed within the pre-start 

clearance zone (or extended SZ, for 

beaked whales and Kogia species) 

during the 30 minute pre-start clearance 

period, ramp-up may not begin until the 

animal(s) has been observed exiting the 

zones or until an additional time period 

has elapsed with no further sightings 

(15 minutes for small odontocetes, and 

30 minutes for all mysticetes and all 

other odontocetes, including sperm 

whales, beaked whales, and large 

delphinids, such as pilot whales); 

• Ramp-up shall begin by activating a 

single airgun of the smallest volume in 

the array and shall continue in stages by 

doubling the number of active elements 

at the commencement of each stage, 

with each stage of approximately the 

same duration. Duration shall not be 

less than 20 minutes. The operator must 

provide information to the PSO 

documenting that appropriate 

procedures were followed; 

• PSOs must monitor the pre-start 

clearance zone (and extended SZ) 

during ramp-up, and ramp-up must 

cease and the source must be shut down 

upon detection of a marine mammal 

within the applicable zone. Once rampup has begun, detections of marine 

mammals within the buffer zone do not 

require shutdown, but such observation 

shall be communicated to the operator 

to prepare for the potential shutdown; 

• Ramp-up may occur at times of 

poor visibility, including nighttime, if 

appropriate acoustic monitoring has 

occurred with no detections in the 30 

minutes prior to beginning ramp-up. 

Airgun array activation may only occur 

at times of poor visibility where 

operational planning cannot reasonably 

avoid such circumstances; 

• If the airgun array is shut down for 

brief periods (i.e., less than 30 minutes) 

for reasons other than implementation 

of prescribed mitigation (e.g., 

mechanical difficulty), it may be 

activated again without ramp-up if PSOs 

have maintained constant visual and/or 

acoustic observation and no visual or 

acoustic detections of marine mammals 

have occurred within the pre-start 

clearance zone (or extended SZ, where 

applicable). For any longer shutdown, 

pre-start clearance observation and 

ramp-up are required; and 

• Testing of the airgun array 

involving all elements requires rampup. Testing limited to individual source 

elements or strings does not require 

ramp-up but does require pre-start 

clearance of 30 minutes. 

Shutdown 

The shutdown of an airgun array 

requires the immediate de-activation of 

all individual airgun elements of the 

array. Any PSO on duty will have the 

authority to delay the start of survey 

operations or to call for shutdown of the 

airgun array if a marine mammal is 

detected within the applicable SZ. The 

operator must also establish and 

maintain clear lines of communication 

directly between PSOs on duty and 

crew controlling the airgun array to 

ensure that shutdown commands are 

conveyed swiftly while allowing PSOs 

to maintain watch. When both visual 

and acoustic PSOs are on duty, all 

detections will be immediately 

communicated to the remainder of the 

on-duty PSO team for potential 

verification of visual observations by the 

acoustic PSO or of acoustic detections 

by visual PSOs. When the airgun array 

is active (i.e., anytime one or more 

airguns is active, including during 

ramp-up) and (1) a marine mammal 

appears within or enters the applicable 

SZ and/or (2) a marine mammal (other 

than delphinids, see below) is detected 

acoustically and localized within the 

applicable SZ, the airgun array will be 

shut down. When shutdown is called 

for by a PSO, the airgun array will be 

immediately deactivated and any 

dispute resolved only following 

deactivation. Additionally, shutdown 

will occur whenever PAM alone 

(without visual sighting), confirms 

presence of marine mammal(s) in the 

SZ. If the acoustic PSO cannot confirm 

presence within the SZ, visual PSOs 


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will be notified but shutdown is not 

required. 

Following a shutdown, airgun activity 

would not resume until the marine 

mammal has cleared the SZ. The animal 

would be considered to have cleared the 

SZ if it is visually observed to have 

departed the SZ (i.e., animal is not 

required to fully exit the buffer zone 

where applicable), or it has not been 

seen within the SZ for 15 minutes for 

small odontocetes, or 30 minutes for all 

mysticetes and all other odontocetes, 

including sperm whales, beaked whales, 

Kogia species, and large delphinids, 

such as pilot whales. 

The shutdown requirement is waived 

for small dolphins if an individual is 

detected within the SZ. As defined here, 

the small dolphin group is intended to 

encompass those members of the Family 

Delphinidae most likely to voluntarily 

approach the source vessel for purposes 

of interacting with the vessel and/or 

airgun array (e.g., bow riding). This 

exception to the shutdown requirement 

applies solely to specific genera of small 

dolphins (Delphinus, Lagenodelphis, 

Stenella, Steno, and Tursiops). 

We include this small dolphin 

exception because shutdown 

requirements for small dolphins under 

all circumstances represent 

practicability concerns without likely 

commensurate benefits for the animals 

in question. Small dolphins are 

generally the most commonly observed 

marine mammals in the specific 

geographic region and would typically 

be the only marine mammals likely to 

intentionally approach the vessel. As 

described above, auditory injury is 

extremely unlikely to occur for midfrequency cetaceans (e.g., delphinids), 

as this group is relatively insensitive to 

sound produced at the predominant 

frequencies in an airgun pulse while 

also having a relatively high threshold 

for the onset of auditory injury (i.e., 

permanent threshold shift). 

A large body of anecdotal evidence 

indicates that small dolphins commonly 

approach vessels and/or towed arrays 

during active sound production for 

purposes of bow riding, with no 

apparent effect observed (e.g., Barkaszi 

et al., 2012, Barkaszi and Kelly, 2018). 

The potential for increased shutdowns 

resulting from such a measure would 

require the Langseth to revisit the 

missed track line to reacquire data, 

resulting in an overall increase in the 

total sound energy input to the marine 

environment and an increase in the total 

duration over which the survey is active 

in a given area. Although other midfrequency hearing specialists (e.g., large 

delphinids) are no more likely to incur 

auditory injury than are small dolphins, 

they are much less likely to approach 

vessels. Therefore, retaining a shutdown 

requirement for large delphinids would 

not have similar impacts in terms of 

either practicability for the applicant or 

corollary increase in sound energy 

output and time on the water. We do 

anticipate some benefit for a shutdown 

requirement for large delphinids in that 

it simplifies somewhat the total range of 

decision-making for PSOs and may 

preclude any potential for physiological 

effects other than to the auditory system 

as well as some more severe behavioral 

reactions for any such animals in close 

proximity to the Langseth. 

Visual PSOs shall use best 

professional judgment in making the 

decision to call for a shutdown if there 

is uncertainty regarding identification 

(i.e., whether the observed marine 

mammal(s) belongs to one of the 

delphinid genera for which shutdown is 

waived or one of the species with a 

larger SZ). 

L–DEO must implement shutdown if 

a marine mammal species for which 

take was not authorized, or a species for 

which authorization was granted but the 

authorized takes have been met, 

approaches the Level A or Level B 

harassment zones. L–DEO must also 

implement an extended shutdown 

(1,500 m for the high energy or 500 m 

for the low energy) if any large whale 

(defined as a sperm whale or any 

mysticete species) with a calf (defined 

as an animal less than two-thirds the 

body size of an adult observed to be in 

close association with an adult) and/or 

an aggregation of six or more large 

whales are observed at any distance. 

Vessel Strike Avoidance 

Vessel personnel should use an 

appropriate reference guide that 

includes identifying information on all 

marine mammals that may be 

encountered. Vessel operators must 

comply with the below measures except 

under extraordinary circumstances 

when the safety of the vessel or crew is 

in doubt or the safety of life at sea is in 

question. These requirements do not 

apply in any case where compliance 

would create an imminent and serious 

threat to a person or vessel or to the 

extent that a vessel is restricted in its 

ability to maneuver and, because of the 

restriction, cannot comply. 

Vessel operators and crews must 

maintain a vigilant watch for all marine 

mammals and slow down, stop their 

vessel, or alter course, as appropriate 

and regardless of vessel size, to avoid 

striking any marine mammal. A single 

marine mammal at the surface may 

indicate the presence of submerged 

animals in the vicinity of the vessel; 

therefore, precautionary measures 

should always be exercised. A visual 

observer aboard the vessel must monitor 

a vessel strike avoidance zone around 

the vessel (distances stated below). 

Visual observers monitoring the vessel 

strike avoidance zone may be thirdparty observers (i.e., PSOs) or crew 

members, but crew members 

responsible for these duties must be 

provided sufficient training to (1) 

distinguish marine mammals from other 

phenomena and (2) broadly to identify 

a marine mammal as a right whale, 

other whale (defined in this context as 

sperm whales or baleen whales other 

than right whales), or other marine 

mammals. 

Vessel speeds must be reduced to 10 

kn (18.5 kph) or less when mother/calf 

pairs, pods, or large assemblages of 

cetaceans are observed near a vessel. All 

vessels must maintain a minimum 

separation distance of 100 m from 

sperm whales and all other baleen 

whales. All vessels must, to the 

maximum extent practicable, attempt to 

maintain a minimum separation 

distance of 50 m from all other marine 

mammals, with an understanding that at 

times this may not be possible (e.g., for 

animals that approach the vessel). 

When marine mammals are sighted 

while a vessel is underway, the vessel 

shall take action as necessary to avoid 

violating the relevant separation 

distance (e.g., attempt to remain parallel 

to the animal’s course, avoid excessive 

speed or abrupt changes in direction 

until the animal has left the area). If 

marine mammals are sighted within the 

relevant separation distance, the vessel 

must reduce speed and shift the engine 

to neutral, not engaging the engines 

until animals are clear of the area. This 

does not apply to any vessel towing gear 

or any vessel that is navigationally 

constrained. 

Based on our evaluation of the 

applicant’s measures, as well as other 

measures considered by NMFS, NMFS 

has determined that the mitigation 

measures provide the means of effecting 

the least practicable impact on the 

affected species or stocks and their 

habitat, paying particular attention to 

rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of 

similar significance. 

Monitoring and Reporting 

In order to issue an IHA for an 

activity, section 101(a)(5)(D) of the 

MMPA states that NMFS must set forth 

requirements pertaining to the 

monitoring and reporting of such taking. 

The MMPA implementing regulations at 

50 CFR 216.104(a)(13) indicate that 

requests for authorizations must include 

the suggested means of accomplishing 


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the necessary monitoring and reporting 

that will result in increased knowledge 

of the species and of the level of taking 

or impacts on populations of marine 

mammals that are expected to be 

present while conducting the activities. 

Effective reporting is critical both to 

compliance as well as ensuring that the 

most value is obtained from the required 

monitoring. 

Monitoring and reporting 

requirements prescribed by NMFS 

should contribute to improved 

understanding of one or more of the 

following: 

• Occurrence of marine mammal 

species or stocks in the area in which 

take is anticipated (e.g., presence, 

abundance, distribution, density); 

• Nature, scope, or context of likely 

marine mammal exposure to potential 

stressors/impacts (individual or 

cumulative, acute or chronic), through 

better understanding of: (1) action or 

environment (e.g., source 

characterization, propagation, ambient 

noise); (2) affected species (e.g., life 

history, dive patterns); (3) co-occurrence 

of marine mammal species with the 

activity; or (4) biological or behavioral 

context of exposure (e.g., age, calving or 

feeding areas); 

• Individual marine mammal 

responses (behavioral or physiological) 

to acoustic stressors (acute, chronic, or 

cumulative), other stressors, or 

cumulative impacts from multiple 

stressors; 

• How anticipated responses to 

stressors impact either: (1) long-term 

fitness and survival of individual 

marine mammals; or (2) populations, 

species, or stocks; 

• Effects on marine mammal habitat 

(e.g., marine mammal prey species, 

acoustic habitat, or other important 

physical components of marine 

mammal habitat); and 

• Mitigation and monitoring 

effectiveness. 

Vessel-Based Visual Monitoring 

As described above, PSO observations 

would take place during daytime airgun 

operations. During seismic survey 

operations, at least five visual PSOs 

would be based aboard the Langseth. 

Two visual PSOs would be on duty at 

all times during daytime hours. 

Monitoring shall be conducted in 

accordance with the following 

requirements: 

• The operator shall provide PSOs 

with bigeye binoculars (e.g., 25 x 150; 

2.7 view angle; individual ocular focus; 

height control) of appropriate quality 

solely for PSO use. These shall be 

pedestal-mounted on the deck at the 

most appropriate vantage point that 

provides for optimal sea surface 

observation, PSO safety, and safe 

operation of the vessel; and 

• The operator will work with the 

selected third-party observer provider to 

ensure PSOs have all equipment 

(including backup equipment) needed 

to adequately perform necessary tasks, 

including accurate determination of 

distance and bearing to observed marine 

mammals. 

PSOs must have the following 

requirements and qualifications: 

• PSOs shall be independent, 

dedicated, trained visual and acoustic 

PSOs and must be employed by a thirdparty observer provider; 

• PSOs shall have no tasks other than 

to conduct observational effort (visual or 

acoustic), collect data, and 

communicate with and instruct relevant 

vessel crew with regard to the presence 

of protected species and mitigation 

requirements (including brief alerts 

regarding maritime hazards); 

• PSOs shall have successfully 

completed an approved PSO training 

course appropriate for their designated 

task (visual or acoustic). Acoustic PSOs 

are required to complete specialized 

training for operating PAM systems and 

are encouraged to have familiarity with 

the vessel with which they will be 

working; 

• PSOs can act as acoustic or visual 

observers (but not at the same time) as 

long as they demonstrate that their 

training and experience are sufficient to 

perform the task at hand; 

• NMFS must review and approve 

PSO resumes accompanied by a relevant 

training course information packet that 

includes the name and qualifications 

(i.e., experience, training completed, or 

educational background) of the 

instructor(s), the course outline or 

syllabus, and course reference material 

as well as a document stating successful 

completion of the course; 

• PSOs must successfully complete 

relevant training, including completion 

of all required coursework and passing 

(80 percent or greater) a written and/or 

oral examination developed for the 

training program; 

• PSOs must have successfully 

attained a bachelor’s degree from an 

accredited college or university with a 

major in one of the natural sciences, a 

minimum of 30 semester hours or 

equivalent in the biological sciences, 

and at least one undergraduate course in 

math or statistics; 

• The educational requirements may 

be waived if the PSO has acquired the 

relevant skills through alternate 

experience. Requests for such a waiver 

shall be submitted to NMFS and must 

include written justification. Requests 

shall be granted or denied (with 

justification) by NMFS within 1 week of 

receipt of submitted information. 

Alternate experience that may be 

considered includes, but is not limited 

to (1) secondary education and/or 

experience comparable to PSO duties; 

(2) previous work experience 

conducting academic, commercial, or 

government-sponsored protected 

species surveys; or (3) previous work 

experience as a PSO; the PSO should 

demonstrate good standing and 

consistently good performance of PSO 

duties; 

• For data collection purposes, PSOs 

shall use standardized electronic data 

collection forms. PSOs shall record 

detailed information about any 

implementation of mitigation 

requirements, including the distance of 

animals to the airgun array and 

description of specific actions that 

ensued, the behavior of the animal(s), 

any observed changes in behavior before 

and after implementation of mitigation, 

and if shutdown was implemented, the 

length of time before any subsequent 

ramp-up of the airgun array. If required 

mitigation was not implemented, PSOs 

should record a description of the 

circumstances. At a minimum, the 

following information must be recorded: 

Æ Vessel name, vessel size and type, 

maximum speed capability of vessel; 

Æ Dates (MM/DD/YYYY) of 

departures and returns to port with port 

name; 

Æ PSO names and affiliations, PSO ID 

(initials or other identifier); 

Æ Date (MM/DD/YYYY) and 

participants of PSO briefings (as 

discussed in 3(d)); 

Æ Visual monitoring equipment used 

(description); 

Æ PSO location on vessel and height 

(meters) of observation location above 

water surface; 

Æ Watch status (description); 

Æ Dates (MM/DD/YYYY) and times 

(Greenwich Mean Time/UTC) of survey 

on/off effort and times (GMC/UTC) 

corresponding with PSO on/off effort; 

Æ Vessel location (decimal degrees) 

when survey effort began and ended and 

vessel location at beginning and end of 

visual PSO duty shifts; 

Æ Vessel location (decimal degrees) at 

30-second intervals if obtainable from 

data collection software, otherwise at 

practical regular interval; 

Æ Vessel heading (compass heading) 

and speed (knots) at beginning and end 

of visual PSO duty shifts and upon any 

change; 

Æ Water depth (meters) (if obtainable 

from data collection software); 

Æ Environmental conditions while on 

visual survey (at beginning and end of 


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PSO shift and whenever conditions 

changed significantly), including BSS 

and any other relevant weather 

conditions including cloud cover, fog, 

sun glare, and overall visibility to the 

horizon; 

Æ Factors that may have contributed 

to impaired observations during each 

PSO shift change or as needed as 

environmental conditions changed 

(description) (e.g., vessel traffic, 

equipment malfunctions); and 

Æ Vessel/Survey activity information 

(and changes thereof) (description), 

such as airgun power output while in 

operation, number and volume of 

airguns operating in the array, tow 

depth of the array, and any other notes 

of significance (i.e., pre-start clearance, 

ramp-up, shutdown, testing, shooting, 

ramp-up completion, end of operations, 

streamers, etc.); and 

• Upon visual observation of any 

marine mammals, the following 

information must be recorded: 

Æ Sighting ID (numeric); 

Æ Watch status (sighting made by 

PSO on/off effort, opportunistic, crew, 

alternate vessel/platform); 

Æ Location of PSO/observer 

(description); 

Æ Vessel activity at the time of the 

sighting (e.g., deploying, recovering, 

testing, shooting, data acquisition, 

other); 

Æ PSO who sighted the animal/ID; 

Æ Time/date of sighting (GMT/UTC, 

MM/DD/YYYY); 

Æ Initial detection method 

(description); 

Æ Sighting cue (description); 

Æ Vessel location at time of sighting 

(decimal degrees); 

Æ Water depth (meters); 

Æ Direction of vessel’s travel 

(compass direction); 

Æ Speed (knots) of the vessel from 

which the observation was made; 

Æ Direction of animal’s travel relative 

to the vessel (description, compass 

heading); 

Æ Bearing to sighting (degrees); 

Æ Identification of the animal (e.g., 

genus/species, lowest possible 

taxonomic level, or unidentified) and 

the composition of the group if there is 

a mix of species; 

Æ Species reliability (an indicator of 

confidence in identification) (1 = 

unsure/possible, 2 = probable, 3 = 

definite/sure, 9 = unknown/not 

recorded); 

Æ Estimated distance to the animal 

(meters) and method of estimating 

distance; 

Æ Estimated number of animals (high/ 

low/best) (numeric); 

Æ Estimated number of animals by 

cohort (adults, yearlings, juveniles, 

calves, group composition, etc.); 

Æ Description (as many 

distinguishing features as possible of 

each individual seen, including length, 

shape, color, pattern, scars or markings, 

shape and size of dorsal fin, shape of 

head, and blow characteristics); 

Æ Detailed behavior observations 

(e.g., number of blows/breaths, number 

of surfaces, breaching, spyhopping, 

diving, feeding, traveling; as explicit 

and detailed as possible; note any 

observed changes in behavior); 

Æ Animal’s closest point of approach 

(meters) and/or closest distance from 

any element of the airgun array; and 

Æ Description of any actions 

implemented in response to the sighting 

(e.g., delays, shutdown, ramp-up) and 

time and location of the action. 

Æ Photos (Yes/No); 

Æ Photo Frame Numbers (List of 

numbers); 

Æ Conditions at time of sighting 

(Visibility; Beaufort Sea State). 

If a marine mammal is detected while 

using the PAM system, the following 

information should be recorded: 

• An acoustic encounter 

identification number, and whether the 

detection was linked with a visual 

sighting; 

• Date and time when first and last 

heard; 

• Types and nature of sounds heard 

(e.g., clicks, whistles, creaks, burst 

pulses, continuous, sporadic, strength of 

signal); and 

• Any additional information 

recorded such as water depth of the 

hydrophone array, bearing of the animal 

to the vessel (if determinable), species 

or taxonomic group (if determinable), 

spectrogram screenshot, and any other 

notable information. 

Reporting 

The Holder shall submit a draft 

comprehensive report on all activities 

and monitoring results within 90 days 

of the completion of the survey or 

expiration of the IHA, whichever comes 

sooner. The report must describe all 

activities conducted and sightings of 

marine mammals, must provide full 

documentation of methods, results, and 

interpretation pertaining to all 

monitoring, and must summarize the 

dates and locations of survey operations 

and all marine mammal sightings (dates, 

times, locations, activities, associated 

survey activities). The draft report shall 

also include geo-referenced timestamped vessel tracklines for all time 

periods during which airgun arrays 

were operating. Tracklines should 

include points recording any change in 

airgun array status (e.g., when the 

sources began operating, when they 

were turned off, or when they changed 

operational status such as from full 

array to single gun or vice versa). 

Geographic Information System files 

shall be provided in Environmental 

Systems Research Institute shapefile 

format and include the UTC date and 

time, latitude in decimal degrees, and 

longitude in decimal degrees. All 

coordinates shall be referenced to the 

WGS84 geographic coordinate system. 

In addition to the report, all raw 

observational data shall be made 

available. The report must summarize 

data collected as described above in 

Data Collection. A final report must be 

submitted within 30 days following 

resolution of any comments on the draft 

report. 

The report must include a validation 

document concerning the use of PAM, 

which should include necessary noise 

validation diagrams and demonstrate 

whether background noise levels on the 

PAM deployment limited achievement 

of the planned detection goals. Copies of 

any vessel self-noise assessment reports 

must be included with the report. 

Reporting Injured or Dead Marine 

Mammals 

Discovery of injured or dead marine 

mammals—In the event that personnel 

involved in the survey activities 

discover an injured or dead marine 

mammal, the L–DEO shall report the 

incident to the Office of Protected 

Resources (OPR), NMFS, and to the 

NMFS Southeast Regional Stranding 

Coordinator as soon as feasible. The 

report must include the following 

information: 

• Time, date, and location (latitude/ 

longitude) of the first discovery (and 

updated location information if known 

and applicable); 

• Species identification (if known) or 

description of the animal(s) involved; 

• Condition of the animal(s) 

(including carcass condition if the 

animal is dead); 

• Observed behaviors of the 

animal(s), if alive; 

• If available, photographs or video 

footage of the animal(s); and 

• General circumstances under which 

the animal was discovered. 

Vessel strike—In the event of a strike 

of a marine mammal by any vessel 

involved in the activities covered by the 

authorization, L–DEO shall report the 

incident to OPR, NMFS, and to the 

NMFS Southeast Regional Stranding 

Coordinator as soon as feasible. The 

report must include the following 

information: 

• Time, date, and location (latitude/ 

longitude) of the incident; 

• Vessel’s speed during and leading 

up to the incident; 


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• Vessel’s course/heading and what 

operations were being conducted (if 

applicable); 

• Status of all sound sources in use; 

• Description of avoidance measures/ 

requirements that were in place at the 

time of the strike and what additional 

measure were taken, if any, to avoid 

strike; 

• Environmental conditions (e.g., 

wind speed and direction, BSS, cloud 

cover, visibility) immediately preceding 

the strike; 

• Species identification (if known) or 

description of the animal(s) involved; 

• Estimated size and length of the 

animal that was struck; 

• Description of the behavior of the 

marine mammal immediately preceding 

and following the strike; 

• If available, description of the 

presence and behavior of any other 

marine mammals present immediately 

preceding the strike; 

• Estimated fate of the animal (e.g., 

dead, injured but alive, injured and 

moving, blood or tissue observed in the 

water, status unknown, disappeared); 

and 

• To the extent practicable, 

photographs or video footage of the 

animal(s). 

Actions To Minimize Additional Harm 

to Live-Stranded (or Milling) Marine 

Mammals 

In the event of a live stranding (or 

near-shore atypical milling) event in the 

U.S. Caribbean territories and/or within 

50 km of the survey operations, where 

the NMFS stranding network is engaged 

in herding or other interventions to 

return animals to the water, the Director 

of OPR, NMFS (or designee), will advise 

L–DEO of the need to implement 

shutdown procedures for all active 

airgun arrays operating within 50 km of 

the stranding. Shutdown procedures for 

live stranding or milling marine 

mammals include the following: if at 

any time, the marine mammal(s) die or 

are euthanized, or if herding/ 

intervention efforts are stopped, the 

Director of OPR, NMFS (or designee), 

will advise the IHA-holder that the 

shutdown around the animals’ location 

is no longer needed. Otherwise, 

shutdown procedures will remain in 

effect until the Director of OPR, NMFS 

(or designee), determines and advises L– 

DEO that all live animals involved have 

left the area (either of their own volition 

or following an intervention). 

If further observations of the marine 

mammals indicate the potential for restranding, additional coordination with 

the IHA-holder will be required to 

determine what measures are necessary 

to minimize that likelihood (e.g., 

extending the shutdown or moving 

operations farther away) and to 

implement those measures as 

appropriate. 

Additional Information Requests—if 

NMFS determines that the 

circumstances of any marine mammal 

stranding found in the vicinity of the 

activity suggest investigation of the 

association with survey activities is 

warranted, and an investigation into the 

stranding is being pursued, NMFS will 

submit a written request to L–DEO 

indicating that the following initial 

available information must be provided 

as soon as possible, but no later than 7 

business days after the request for 

information: 

• Status of all sound source use in the 

48 hours preceding the estimated time 

of stranding and within 50 km of the 

discovery/notification of the stranding 

by NMFS; and 

• If available, description of the 

behavior of any marine mammal(s) 

observed preceding (i.e., within 48 

hours and 50 km) and immediately after 

the discovery of the stranding. 

In the event that the investigation is 

still inconclusive, the investigation of 

the association of the survey activities is 

still warranted, and the investigation is 

still being pursued, NMFS may provide 

additional information requests, in 

writing, regarding the nature and 

location of survey operations prior to 

the time period above. 

Negligible Impact Analysis and 

Determination 

NMFS has defined negligible impact 

as an impact resulting from the 

specified activity that cannot be 

reasonably expected to, and is not 

reasonably likely to, adversely affect the 

species or stock through effects on 

annual rates of recruitment or survival 

(50 CFR 216.103). A negligible impact 

finding is based on the lack of likely 

adverse effects on annual rates of 

recruitment or survival (i.e., populationlevel effects). An estimate of the number 

of takes alone is not enough information 

on which to base an impact 

determination. In addition to 

considering estimates of the number of 

marine mammals that might be ‘‘taken’’ 

through harassment, NMFS considers 

other factors, such as the likely nature 

of any impacts or responses (e.g., 

intensity, duration), the context of any 

impacts or responses (e.g., critical 

reproductive time or location, foraging 

impacts affecting energetics), as well as 

effects on habitat, and the likely 

effectiveness of the mitigation. We also 

assess the number, intensity, and 

context of estimated takes by evaluating 

this information relative to population 

status. Consistent with the 1989 

preamble for NMFS’ implementing 

regulations (54 FR 40338; September 29, 

1989), the impacts from other past and 

ongoing anthropogenic activities are 

incorporated into this analysis via their 

impacts on the baseline (e.g., as 

reflected in the regulatory status of the 

species, population size and growth rate 

where known, ongoing sources of 

human-caused mortality, or ambient 

noise levels). 

To avoid repetition, the discussion of 

our analysis applies to all the species 

listed in table 1, given that the 

anticipated effects of this activity on 

these different marine mammal stocks 

are expected to be similar. Where there 

are meaningful differences between 

species or stocks they are included as 

separate subsections below. NMFS does 

not anticipate that serious injury or 

mortality would occur as a result of L– 

DEO’s planned survey, even in the 

absence of mitigation, and no serious 

injury or mortality is authorized. As 

discussed in the Potential Effects of 

Specified Activities on Marine 

Mammals and Their Habitat section 

above, non-auditory physical effects and 

vessel strike are not expected to occur. 

NMFS expects that the majority of 

potential takes would be in the form of 

short-term Level B behavioral 

harassment, resulting from temporary 

avoidance of the area or decreased 

foraging (if such activity was occurring), 

reactions that are considered to be of 

low severity and with no lasting 

biological consequences (e.g., Southall 

et al., 2007). 

We authorize a limited number of 

Level A harassment events of five 

species in the form of PTS (humpback 

whale, minke whale, sei whale, and 

Kogia spp), and Level B harassment 

only of the remaining marine mammal 

species. If any PTS is incurred in marine 

mammals as a result of the planned 

activity, we expect only a small degree 

of PTS that would not result in severe 

hearing impairment because of the 

constant movement of both the Langseth 

and of the marine mammals in the 

project areas, as well as the fact that the 

vessel is not expected to remain in any 

one area in which individual marine 

mammals would be expected to 

concentrate for an extended period of 

time. Additionally, L–DEO would shut 

down the airgun array if marine 

mammals approach within 500 m (with 

the exception of specific genera of 

dolphins, see Mitigation), further 

reducing the expected duration and 

intensity of sound, and therefore the 

likelihood of marine mammals incurring 

PTS. Since the duration of exposure to 

loud sounds will be relatively short it 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 70953 

would be unlikely to affect the fitness of 

any individuals. Also, as described 

above, we expect that marine mammals 

would likely move away from a sound 

source that represents an aversive 

stimulus, especially at levels that would 

be expected to result in PTS, given 

sufficient notice of the Langseth’s 

approach due to the vessel’s relatively 

low speed when conducting seismic 

surveys. 

In addition, the maximum expected 

Level B harassment zone around the 

survey vessel is 6,733 m for water 

depths greater than 1,000 m (and up to 

10,100 m in water depths of 100 to 

1,000 m). Therefore, the ensonified area 

surrounding the vessel is relatively 

small compared to the overall 

distribution of animals in the area and 

their use of the habitat. Feeding 

behavior is not likely to be significantly 

impacted as prey species are mobile and 

are broadly distributed throughout the 

survey area; therefore, marine mammals 

that may be temporarily displaced 

during survey activities are expected to 

be able to resume foraging once they 

have moved away from areas with 

disturbing levels of underwater noise. 

Because of the short duration (24 days) 

and temporary nature of the disturbance 

and the availability of similar habitat 

and resources in the surrounding area, 

the impacts to marine mammals and the 

food sources that they utilize are not 

expected to cause significant or longterm consequences for individual 

marine mammals or their populations. 

There are no rookeries, mating, or 

calving grounds known to be 

biologically important to marine 

mammals within the survey area and 

there are no feeding areas known to be 

biologically important to marine 

mammals within the survey area. There 

is no designated critical habitat for any 

ESA-listed marine mammals in the 

survey area. 

Marine Mammal Species With Active 

Unusual Mortality Events (UMEs) 

As discussed above, there are several 

active UMEs occurring in the vicinity of 

L–DEO’s survey area. Elevated 

humpback whale mortalities have 

occurred along the Atlantic coast from 

Maine through Florida since January 

2016. Of the cases examined, 

approximately half had evidence of 

human interaction (ship strike or 

entanglement). The UME does not yet 

provide cause for concern regarding 

population-level impacts. Despite the 

UME, the relevant population of 

humpback whales (the West Indies 

breeding population, or DPS) remains 

stable at approximately 12,000 

individuals. 

Beginning in January 2017, elevated 

minke whale strandings have occurred 

along the Atlantic coast from Maine 

through South Carolina, with highest 

numbers in Massachusetts, Maine, and 

New York. This event does not provide 

cause for concern regarding population 

level impacts, as the likely population 

abundance is greater than 20,000 

whales, and the UME is pending 

closure. Although, the populations 

experiencing the UME’s may not be the 

same as the populations impacted by 

the survey. 

Additionally, the mitigation measures 

are expected to reduce the number and/ 

or severity of takes for all species listed 

in table 1, including those with active 

UMEs, to the level of least practicable 

adverse impact. In particular they 

would provide animals the opportunity 

to move away from the sound source 

throughout the survey area before 

seismic survey equipment reaches full 

energy, thus preventing them from being 

exposed to sound levels that have the 

potential to cause injury (Level A 

harassment) or more severe Level B 

harassment. 

In summary and as described above, 

the following factors primarily support 

our determination that the impacts 

resulting from this activity are not 

expected to adversely affect any of the 

species or stocks through effects on 

annual rates of recruitment or survival: 

• No serious injury or mortality is 

anticipated or authorized; 

• The activity is temporary and of 

relatively short duration (40 days); 

• The vast majority of anticipated 

impacts of the activity on marine 

mammals would be temporary 

behavioral changes due to avoidance of 

the area around the vessel; 

• The availability of alternative areas 

of similar habitat value for marine 

mammals to temporarily vacate the 

survey area during the survey to avoid 

exposure to sounds from the activity is 

readily abundant; 

• The potential adverse effects on fish 

or invertebrate species that serve as prey 

species for marine mammals from the 

survey would be temporary and 

spatially limited, and impacts to marine 

mammal foraging would be minimal; 

• The mitigation measures are 

expected to reduce the number of takes 

by Level A harassment (in the form of 

PTS) by allowing for detection of marine 

mammals in the vicinity of the vessel by 

visual and acoustic observers; and 

• The mitigation measures, including 

visual and acoustic shutdowns are 

expected to minimize potential impacts 

to marine mammals (both amount and 

severity). 

Based on the analysis contained 

herein of the likely effects of the 

specified activity on marine mammals 

and their habitat, and taking into 

consideration the implementation of the 

monitoring and mitigation measures, 

NMFS finds that the total marine 

mammal take from the activity will have 

a negligible impact on all affected 

marine mammal species or stocks. 

Small Numbers 

As noted previously, only take of 

small numbers of marine mammals may 

be authorized under sections 

101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA for 

specified activities other than military 

readiness activities. The MMPA does 

not define small numbers and so, in 

practice, where estimated numbers are 

available, NMFS compares the number 

of individuals taken to the most 

appropriate estimation of abundance of 

the relevant species or stock in our 

determination of whether an 

authorization is limited to small 

numbers of marine mammals. When the 

predicted number of individuals to be 

taken is fewer than one-third of the 

species or stock abundance, the take is 

considered to be of small numbers. 

Additionally, other qualitative factors 

may be considered in the analysis, such 

as the temporal or spatial scale of the 

activities. 

The amount of take NMFS authorizes 

is below one-third of the estimated 

modeled abundance for all species (in 

fact, take of individuals is less than six 

percent of the abundance of the affected 

stocks, see table 6). This is likely a 

conservative estimate because we 

assume all takes are of different 

individual animals, which is likely not 

the case. Some individuals may be 

encountered multiple times in a day, 

but PSOs would count them as separate 

individuals if they cannot be identified. 

Based on the analysis contained 

herein of the planned activity (including 

the mitigation and monitoring 

measures) and the anticipated take of 

marine mammals, NMFS finds that 

small numbers of marine mammals 

would be taken relative to the 

population size of the affected species 

or stocks. 

Unmitigable Adverse Impact Analysis 

and Determination 

There are no relevant subsistence uses 

of the affected marine mammal stocks or 

species implicated by this action. 

Therefore, NMFS has determined that 

the total taking of affected species or 

stocks would not have an unmitigable 

adverse impact on the availability of 

such species or stocks for taking for 

subsistence purposes. 


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70954 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 

Endangered Species Act 

Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal 

agency insure that any action it 

authorizes, funds, or carries out is not 

likely to jeopardize the continued 

existence of any endangered or 

threatened species or result in the 

destruction or adverse modification of 

designated critical habitat. To ensure 

ESA compliance for the issuance of 

IHAs, NMFS consults internally 

whenever we propose to authorize take 

for endangered or threatened species, in 

this case with the ESA Interagency 

Cooperation Division within NMFS’ 

OPR. 

The NMFS OPR ESA Interagency 

Cooperation Division issued a Biological 

Opinion under section 7 of the ESA, on 

the issuance of an IHA to L–DEO under 

section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA by the 

NMFS OPR Permits and Conservation 

Division. The Biological Opinion 

concluded that the action is not likely 

to jeopardize the continued existence of 

ESA-listed blue whales, fin whales, sei 

whales, and sperm whales. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as implemented by 

the regulations published by the 

Council on Environmental Quality (40 

CFR parts 1500–1508), the NSF 

prepared an Environmental Analysis 

(EA) to consider the direct, indirect, and 

cumulative effects to the human 

environment from the planned marine 

geophysical survey off of Puerto Rico. 

NSF’s EA was made available to the 

public for review and comment in 

relation to its suitability for adoption by 

NMFS in order to assess the impacts to 

the human environment of issuance of 

an IHA to L–DEO. In compliance with 

NEPA and the Council on 

Environmental Quality regulations, as 

well as NOAA Administrative Order 

216–6, NMFS has reviewed the NSF’s 

EA, determined it to be sufficient, and 

adopted that EA and signed a Finding 

of No Significant Impact (FONSI) 

available on our website at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

incidental-take-authorization-lamontdoherty-earth-observatorys-marinegeophysical-surveys. NSF’s EA is 

available at https://www.nsf.gov/geo/ 

oce/envcomp/. 

Authorization 

NMFS has issued an IHA to L–DEO 

for the incidental harassment of small 

numbers of 27 marine mammal species 

incidental to a marine geophysical 

survey of Puerto Rico in the Northwest 

Atlantic Ocean that includes previously 

explained mitigation, monitoring and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: October 10, 2023. 

Kimberly Damon-Randall, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22632 Filed 10–12–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM 

PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR 

SEVERELY DISABLED 

Procurement List; Proposed Deletions 

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From 

People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled. 

ACTION: Proposed deletions from the 

Procurement List. 

SUMMARY: The Committee is proposing 

to deletes service(s) that were 

previously furnished by nonprofit 

agencies employing persons who are 

blind or have other severe disabilities. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before: November 12, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase 

From People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled, 355 E Street SW, Suite 325, 

Washington, DC 20024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information or to submit 

comments contact: Michael R. 

Jurkowski, Telephone: (703) 785–6404, 

or email CMTEFedReg@AbilityOne.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is published pursuant to 41 

U.S.C. 8503(a)(2) and 41 CFR 51–2.3. Its 

purpose is to provide interested persons 

an opportunity to submit comments on 

the proposed actions. 

Deletions 

The following service(s) are proposed 

for deletion from the Procurement List: 

Service(s) 

Service Type: Grounds Maintenance 

Mandatory for: NOAA, National Weather 

Service Forecast Office, Charleston, WV; 

400 Parkway Road: Charleston, WV 

Mandatory Source of Supply: Goodwill 

Industries of Kanawha Valley, 

Charleston, WV 

Contracting Activity: NATIONAL OCEANIC 

AND ATMOSPHERIC 

ADMINISTRATION, DEPT OF 

COMMERCE NOAA 

Service Type: Laundry Service 

Mandatory for: US Air Force, Youngstown 

Municipal Airport, 910th Airlift Wing, 

Youngstown Air Reserve Station, 

Vienna, OH, 3976 King Graves Road, 

Vienna, OH 

Mandatory Source of Supply: Hancock 

County Sheltered Workshop, Inc., 

Weirton, WV 

Contracting Activity: DEPT OF THE AIR 

FORCE, FA6656 910 AW LGC YNGSTN 

WRN ARPT 

Michael R. Jurkowski, 

Acting Director, Business Operations. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22620 Filed 10–12–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6353–01–P 

COUNCIL OF THE INSPECTORS 

GENERAL ON INTEGRITY AND 

EFFICIENCY 

Senior Executive Service Performance 

Review Board Membership 

AGENCY: Council of the Inspectors 

General on Integrity and Efficiency. 

ACTION: Notice. 

DATES: Applicable October 1, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Individual Offices of Inspectors General 

at the telephone numbers listed below. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Inspector General Act of 1978, as 

amended, created the Offices of 

Inspectors General as independent and 

objective units to conduct and supervise 

audits and investigations relating to 

Federal programs and operations. The 

Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 

established the Council of the Inspectors 

General on Integrity and Efficiency 

(CIGIE) to address integrity, economy, 

and effectiveness issues that transcend 

individual Government agencies; and 

increase the professionalism and 

effectiveness of personnel by developing 

policies, standards, and approaches to 

aid in the establishment of a welltrained and highly skilled workforce in 

the Offices of Inspectors General. CIGIE 

is an interagency council whose 

executive chair is the Deputy Director 

for Management, Office of Management 

and Budget, and is comprised 

principally of the 75 Inspectors General 

(IGs). 

II. CIGIE Performance Review Board 

Under 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(1)–(5), and in 

accordance with regulations prescribed 

by the Office of Personnel Management, 

each agency is required to establish one 

or more Senior Executive Service (SES) 

performance review boards. The 

purpose of these boards is to review and 

evaluate the initial appraisal of a senior 

executive’s performance by the 

supervisor, along with any 

recommendations to the appointing 

authority relative to the performance of 

the senior executive. The current 


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