Stellwagen Bank Final EIS and Management Plan 



Page 100 



feature, as both habitat and as causal agent in the 

 predictable occurrence of internal waves and 

 upwelling phenomena, which contribute to the 

 biological productivity of the overall larger system 

 surroimding the Bank. Identified cetacean, 

 pinniped, and seabird species occur within this 

 alternative^ boundaries, as do most of the fish 

 species. These boimdaries may not, however, 

 incorporate all habitat areas important to shellfish 

 and other invertebrate species of the overall 

 Stellwagen Bank system. The boundaries also do 

 not include all of those areas known to be primary 

 cetacean feeding areas, and therefore do not 

 encompass those marine areas most heavily used by 

 commercial and recreational whalewatch vessels. 

 The limitations of this boundary alternative would 

 not permit the development of research or 

 interpretive programs based on investigations into 

 system-wide relationships. 



Additionally, this boundary alternative does not 

 coincide with any areas identified by the 

 Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Ocean 

 Sanctuaries, thereby precluding the opportunity for 

 a direct connection between the Sanctuary and the 

 Commonwealth S Ocean Sanctuaries Program. 

 However, this boimdary alternative would provide 

 the opportunity for coordination with research 

 efforts of the Massachusetts Bays/NEP. 



Designation of boimdary alternative #1 would 

 also provide the opportimity for protection of the 

 Bank feature under Title III from permanent 

 alteration resulting from activities such as sand and 

 gravel mining, and from other potentially adverse 

 environmental impacts. 



2. Boundary Alternative #2 



This boimdary alternative (Figure 19) 

 encompasses approximately 453 square nautical 

 miles (521 square miles) of Federal waters 

 surrounding Stellwagen Bank. Like boundary 

 alternative #1, the boundary forms an 

 approximately rectangular area around the entirety 

 of the Bank feature, except for the southern border, 

 which coincides with the seaward limit of State 

 jurisdictional waters, and follows the arc formed by 

 that limit as it occurs along the northern end of 

 Cape Cod. The boundary occurs in an approximate 



southeast-to-northwest orientation, the northeast 

 and northwest comers of which are marked by the 

 following coordinates, respectively: 42°36 00.10'N x 

 70°13 56.46 "W, and 42^30 <J9.14'N x 70°34 55.72 "W. 

 The Sanctuary S eastern and western borders extend 

 in a south-southeast direction from these points to 

 coincide with the northern limits of State 

 jurisdiction waters off the northernmost land mass 

 of Cape Cod. The Sanctuary S southern border 

 follows an approximately west-to-east line, until the 

 boundary reaches an offshore point three miles 

 from the mean high tide line at Race Point, the 

 northermnost point of land on Cape Cod. At that 

 point, the Sanctuary S southern border curves in a 

 line tangential to the three-mile jurisdictional 

 boundary of Massachusetts around the northern 

 Cape Cod land mass. The southeast and southwest 

 comers are marked by the following coordinates, 

 respectively: 42°06 29.53 'N x 70°04 03.36 'W; and 

 42°07 44.89 'N x 70°28 15.44 "W. (Figure 19). The 

 area of boundary alternative #2 is roughly 

 equidistant from the land points of Cape Cod, to 

 the south, and Cape Ann, to the north. 



Boundary alternative #2 encompasses 

 identified important marine habitats resulting from 

 the cychc upwelling and mixing phenomena found at 

 Stellwagen Bank. Several species of endangered 

 and other cetaceans, pinnipeds, sea turtles, and 

 numerous species of commercially-important fish 

 and invertebrates depend on habitats over and 

 surrounding the Bank feature. This boundary 

 encompasses the entirety of the most frequently- 

 utilized feeding and nursery habitats for the largest 

 high-latitude population of humpback whales 

 occurring in the contiguous United States. Also 

 included in this boundary option are spawning areas 

 for the primary prey of the humpback whales, the 

 American sand lance. Additional endangered whale 

 species utilizing the habitats enclosed by boundary 

 alternative #2 are fin and northern right whales; 

 other non-Usted marine mammal species found 

 within area include minke, orca, and pilot whales, as 

 well as white-sided dolphins and harbor seals. 



Boundary alternative #2 reflects closely the 

 size and configuration of the site originally proposed 

 to NOAA m 1982, during development of its Site 



