2024-17454. Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Marine Site Characterization Surveys Off New York and New Jersey in the New York Bight

Table 1—Species and Stocks  ^a Likely Impacted by the Proposed Specified Activities

Common name	Scientific name	Stock	ESA/MMPA status; strategic (Y/N) b	Stock abundance (CV, Nmin, most recent abundance survey) c	PBR	Annual M/SI d
Order Artiodactyla—Cetacea—Superfamily Mysticeti (baleen whales)
Family Balaenidae:
North Atlantic right whale e	Eubalaena glacialis	Western Atlantic	E, D, Y	340 (0, 337, 2021)	0.7	f  27.2
Family Balaenopteridae (rorquals):
Fin whale	Balaenoptera physalus	Western North Atlantic	E, D, Y	6,802 (0.24, 5,573, 2021)	11	2.05
Humpback whale	Megaptera novaeangliae	Gulf of Maine		No changes
Minke whale	Balaenoptera acutorostrata	Canadian Eastern Coastal	-, -, N	21,968 (0.31, 17,002, 2021)	170	9.4
Sei whale	Balaenoptera borealis	Nova Scotia	E, D, Y	6,292 (1.02, 3,098, 2021)	6.2	0.6
Superfamily Odontoceti (toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises)
Family Physeteridae:
Sperm whale	Physeter macrocephalus	North Atlantic	E, D, Y	5,895 (0.29, 4,639, 2021)	9.28	0.2
Family Delphinidae:
Atlantic spotted dolphin	Stenella frontalis	Western North Atlantic	-, -, N	31,506 (0.28, 25,042, 2021)	250	0
Atlantic white-sided dolphin	Lagenorhynchus acutus	Western North Atlantic	-, -, N	93,233 (0.71, 54,443, 2021)	544	28
Bottlenose dolphin	Tursiops truncatus	Western North Atlantic—Offshore f	-, -, N	64,587 (0.24, 52,801, 2021)	507	28
		Northern Migratory Coastal		No changes
Common dolphin	Delphinus delphis	Western North Atlantic	-, -, N	93,100 (0.56, 59,897, 2021)	1,452	414
Long-finned pilot whale g	Globicephala melas	Western North Atlantic	-, -, N	39,215 (0.30, 30,627, 2021)	306	5.7
Risso's dolphin	Grampus griseus	Western North Atlantic	-, -, N	44,067 (0.19, 30,662, 2021)	307	18
Family Phocoenidae (porpoises)
Harbor porpoise	Phocoena phocoena	Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy	-, -, N	85,765 (0.53, 56,420, 2021)	649	145
Order Carnivora—Superfamily Pinnipedia
Family Phocidae (earless seals):
Gray seal h	Halichoerus grypus	Western North Atlantic	-, -, N	27,911 (0.20, 23,624, 2021)	1,512	4,570
Harbor seal	Phoca vitulina	Western North Atlantic		No changes
a  Information on the classification of marine mammal species can be found on the web page for The Society for Marine Mammalogy's Committee on Taxonomy ( https://marinemammalscience.org/​science-and-publications/​list-marine-mammal-species-subspecies).
b  Endangered Species Act (ESA) 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.
c  NMFS' marine mammal stock assessment reports can be found online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/​national/​marine-mammal-protection/​marine-mammal-stock-assessments. CV is the coefficient of variation; Nmin is the minimum estimate of stock abundance. In some cases, CV is not applicable.
d  These values, found in NMFS's SARs, represent annual levels of human-caused mortality plus serious injury from all sources combined ( e.g., commercial fisheries, ship strike). Annual M/SI often cannot be determined precisely and is in some cases presented as a minimum value or range. A CV associated with estimated mortality due to commercial fisheries is presented in some cases.
e  The current SAR includes an estimated population (Nbest = 340) based on sighting history through December 2021 ( https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/​national/​marine-mammal-protection/​marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports). In October 2023, NMFS released a technical report identifying that the North Atlantic right whale population size based on sighting history through 2022 was 356 whales, with a 95 percent credible interval ranging from 346 to 363 (Linden, 2023).
f  Estimates may include sightings of the coastal form.
g  Key uncertainties exist in the population size estimate for this species, including uncertain separation between short-finned and long-finned pilot whales, small negative bias due to lack of abundance estimate in the region between US and the Newfoundland/Labrador survey area, and uncertainty due to unknown precision and accuracy of the availability bias correction factor that was applied.
h  NMFS' stock abundance estimate (and associated PBR value) applies to the U.S. population only. Total stock abundance (including animals in Canada) is approximately 394,311. The annual M/SI value given is for the total stock.

On August 1, 2022, NMFS announced proposed changes to the existing North Atlantic right whale vessel speed regulations to further reduce the likelihood of mortalities and serious injuries to endangered North Atlantic right whales from vessel collisions, which are a leading cause of the species' decline and a primary factor in an ongoing Unusual Mortality Event (87 FR 46921, August 1, 2022). Should a final vessel speed rule be issued and become effective during the effective period of this proposed renewal IHA (or any other MMPA incidental take authorization), the authorization holder would be required to comply with any and all applicable requirements contained within the final rule. Specifically, where measures in any final vessel speed rule are more protective or restrictive than those in this or any other MMPA authorization, authorization holders would be required to comply with the requirements of the rule. Alternatively, where measures in this or any other MMPA authorization are more restrictive or protective than those in any final vessel speed rule, the measures in the MMPA authorization would remain in place. These changes would become effective immediately upon the effective date of any final vessel speed rule and would not require any further action on NMFS's part.

Based on the information presented above, NMFS has determined that neither this nor any other new information affects which species or stocks have the potential to be affected or any other pertinent information in the Description of the Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities contained in the supporting documents for the initial proposed (88 FR 24553, April 21, 2023) and final (88 FR 41888, June 28, 2023) Federal Register notices.

Potential Effects on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat

A description of the potential effects of the specified activity on marine mammals and their habitat for the activities for which an authorization of incidental take is proposed here may be found in the Federal Register notice for the proposed IHA for the initial authorization (88 FR 24553, April 21, 2023). NMFS has reviewed the monitoring data from the initial IHA, recent draft SAR, information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and other scientific literature, and determined that there is no new information that affects our initial analysis of impacts on marine mammals and their habitat.

Estimated Take

A detailed description of the methods and inputs used to estimate take for the specified activity are found in the Federal Register notices of the proposed (88 FR 24553, April 21, 2023) and final (88 FR 41888, June 28, 2023) IHA for the initial authorization. Specifically, the source levels, days of operation, and marine mammal density/occurrence data applicable to this authorization remain unchanged from the previously issued IHA. Similarly, the stocks taken, methods of take, and types of take remain unchanged from the previously issued IHA. The number of takes proposed for authorization in this renewal IHA are a subset of the initial authorized takes that better represent the amount of activity that Attentive Energy has left to complete. The percentage of trackline remaining, for most stocks, is approximately 32 percent. The most variation in effort exists for both the Migratory Coastal and Offshore stocks of bottlenose dolphins as the estimated trackline remaining is based on the estimated overlapping trackline with the cutoffs for the 20-m (65.6-ft) isobath ( i.e. >20-m (>65.6-ft) isobath for the Offshore stock, <20-m (<65.6-ft) isobath for the Migratory Coastal stock). All of these estimated takes, which reflect the estimated remaining tracklines and survey days, are indicated below in table 2.

Table 2—Proposed Number of Takes by Level B Harassment by Species and Stocks, and Percent of Take by Stock

Common name	Population abundance	Percentage of trackline remaining in relevant habitat	Takes proposed for authorization based on remaining trackline	Percentage of population proposed to be taken
North Atlantic right whale	340	32	4	1.18
Fin whale	6,802	32	12	0.18
Humpback whale	1,396	32	8	0.57
Minke whale	21,968	32	57	0.26
Sei whale	6,292	32	4	0.06
Sperm whale	5,895	32	1	0.02
Atlantic spotted dolphin	31,506	32	28	0.09
Atlantic white-sided dolphin	93,233	32	66	0.07
Bottlenose dolphin—Western North Atlantic Offshore	64,587	28	489	0.76
Bottlenose dolphin—Northern Migratory Coastal	6,639	93	362	5.45
Common dolphin	93,100	32	658	0.71
Long-finned pilot whale	39,215	32	7	0.02
Risso's dolphin	44,067	32	7	0.02
Harbor porpoise	85,765	32	350	0.41
Gray seal	27,911	32	511	1.83
Harbor seal	61,336	32	511	0.83