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Two species of seals and six species of endangered 

 whales occur in or adjacent to the lease sale area. In its 

 DEIS on the proposed sale, the Minerals Management Service 

 concluded that: harbor and gray seals should not be affected 

 substantially by lease sale activities; humpback, fin, and 

 right whales, which concentrate in areas outside the leasing 

 area, should not be affected greatly; and a low- to-moderate 

 level of impact on sperm and sei whales might occur if 

 production activities become concentrated in deeper waters 

 in the outer portion of the lease area. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, reviewed the DEIS and forwarded comments 

 to the Service on 9 August 1983. The Commission noted that 

 there appeared to be reasonable justification for the stated 

 conclusions regarding possible effects on gray and harbor 

 seals and fin, sperm, and sei whales, but that available 

 information did not appear to be sufficient to determine the 

 likelihood or significance of possible effects on endangered 

 right or humpback whales. Noting that right and humpback 

 whales migrate seasonally through other existing and proposed 

 east coast OCS leasing areas, the Commission recommended 

 that, if the Service had not already done so, it consult 

 with the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine the 

 adequacy of relevant research and monitoring programs and, 

 if necessary, the need to expand them to detect and mitigate 

 possible cumulative effects of oil and gas activities along 

 the entire U.S. Atlantic coast. The Commission also recommended 

 that available sighting data for right and humpback whales 

 be reexamined and, as supported by those data, that all 

 blocks in the east-central portion of the lease area, which 

 are in or directly adjacent to the spring concentration area 

 for right and humpback whales (i.e., the northern Great 

 South Channel) , be deleted from the proposed lease offering. 

 It was suggested that information provided to lessees on 

 bird and marine mammal protection be expanded to include 

 guidance on recommended distances and conduct to be followed 

 by ship and aircraft operators when in the vicinity of 

 endangered whales. 



Proposed OCS Lease Sale #83 

 Navarin Basin, Alaska 



The proposed Navarin Basin lease sale, scheduled for 

 March 1984, involves 5,296 blocks (approximately 29.5 

 million acres) of submerged OCS land in the central Bering 

 Sea off western Alaska. According to the DEIS prepared by 

 the Minerals Management Service, the species of marine 

 mammals found in the area include eight species of endangered 



