[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 41 (Monday, March 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 9414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5117]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 022197D]


Marine Mammals; Permit No. 1021 (P532C)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of application for amendment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Texas A&M University, Galveston, 
TX 77551, has requested an amendment to permit no. 1021.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 2, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The amendment request and related documents are available 
for review upon written request or by appointment in the following 
office(s):
    Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289);
    Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS, 9721 Executive 
Center Drive North, St. Petersburg, FL 33702-2432 (813/570-5301); and
    Director, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, P.O. Box 271, 
La Jolla, CA 92038-0271 (619/546-7067).
    Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on this 
request should be submitted to the Director, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 
20910. Those individuals requesting a hearing should set forth the 
specific reasons why a hearing on this particular amendment request 
would be appropriate.
    Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register, NMFS is forwarding copies of this application to the Marine 
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject amendment to permit no. 10231, 
issued on December 17, 1996 (61 FR 67998) is requested under the 
authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 
U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Regulations Governing the Taking and 
Importing of Marine Mammals (50 CFR part 216).
    Permit no. 1021 authorizes the permit holder to carry out two 
research projects: (1) conduct level B harassment and remote biopsy 
sampling on a variety of cetaceans in the Gulf of Mexico, and capture, 
tag and release small Delphinid, attach the video camera/data logger 
package and/or satellite-linked time-depth recorders to 15 sperm 
whales; and (2) import specimens materials from all species of cetacea 
and pinnipedia (except walrus) on a worldwide basis.
    The permit holder requests authorization to include an additional 
research project that includes taking up to 30 Weddell seals 
(Leptonychotes weddellii) annually for a 3-year period on McMurdo 
Sound, Antarctica. Animals will be captured, instrumented with a small 
video system and data logger and released. Animals will be anesthetized 
for attachment of instruments and catheters placed percutaneously into 
a blood vessel. For stomach temperature, a temperature telemeter pill 
will be inserted down the animal's esophagus while it is anesthetized. 
The study will address what behavioral and energetic adaptations enable 
Weddell seals to forage in the Antarctic fast-ice environment.

    Dated: February 24, 1997.
Ann L. Hochman,
Acting Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-5117 Filed 2-28-97; 8:45 am]
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