Chapter XI — Permits for Marine Mammals 



necropsy was not performed. On 8 and 9 November 

 two more dead humpback whales were seen floating 

 offshore the Farallon Islands. Because of the concur- 

 rence with the performance test of the Pioneer Sea- 

 mount ATOC transmitter, several of the environmen- 

 tal groups that had signed the 2 June 1995 agreement 

 questioned whether the humpback whales may have 

 been killed by the sound transmissions. Available 

 information concerning the sightings and condition of 

 the dead humpback whales and the engineering tests 

 of the ATOC sound generator were compiled and 

 provided to the marine mammal research program 

 advisory board for review. In a 30 November 1995 

 letter to the leader of the ATOC marine mammal 

 research program, the chairman of the advisory board 

 indicated that the board believed it unlikely that the 

 engineering test transmissions on 28-29 October and 

 1-2 November were responsible for the deaths of the 

 humpback whales found on 3, 8, and 9 November. 

 The letter indicated that the board believed that there 

 had been a breakdown in communication between the 

 engineers and oceanographers who were installing and 

 testing the sound source and the researchers responsi- 

 ble for designing and carrying out the marine mammal 

 research program. The board recommended that all 

 future transmissions from ATOC sources, including 

 any future engineering test transmissions, be either 

 under the control or with the full knowledge and 

 documented advance concurrence of the scientists 

 responsible for the marine mammal research program. 



research program. Experimental transmissions were 

 initiated on 2-3 December 1995. 



The Hawaii Project — The final environmental 

 impact statement for the Kauai ATOC project and its 

 associated marine mammal research program was 

 issued in May 1995. An application for a scientific 

 research permit authorizing the taking of marine 

 mammals in the course of the program was submitted 

 to the National Marine Fisheries Service on 26 May 

 1995. The Commission, in consultation with its 

 Committee of Scientific Advisors, provided comments 

 on the permit application on 13 July 1995. 



The Commission noted that the planned research 

 program appeared conceptually sound but might not 

 provide sufficient information to judge whether 

 operation of the ATOC sound source off Kauai would 

 have negligible effects on humpback whales or to 

 design a cost-effective monitoring program to verify 

 that the transmissions have negligible effects. The 

 planned program would not, for example, provide 

 data necessary to determine what proportion or subset 

 of the humpback whales that winter in the Hawaiian 

 Islands reside in or pass through the area off Haena 

 Point and thus could be exposed to ATOC sound 

 transmissions. The Commission recommended that 

 the requested permit be issued recognizing that the 

 planned research might not provide sufficient informa- 

 tion to make the previously noted determinations. 



The board also noted that authority to conduct 

 experimental sound transmissions had been suspended, 

 pending review of the possible relationship between 

 the test transmissions and the humpback whale deaths, 

 and that this delay in implementing the program might 

 result in too few data being available at the end of the 

 program to draw statistically meaningful conclusions 

 concerning the likely effects of ATOC transmissions. 

 The board recommended that the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service authorize initiation of experimental 

 transmissions as quickly as possible, subject to accep- 

 tance of the board's recommendations. The National 

 Marine Fisheries Service modified the permit issued 

 to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography on 13 July 

 1995 to reflect the board's recommendations and on 

 30 November 1995 authorized initiation of sound 

 transmissions as part of the California marine mammal 



The Commission also recommended that experi- 

 mental sound transmissions be suspended if there is 

 any indication that they may be jeopardizing the health 

 or welfare of individual animals or the populations of 

 which they are a part. In addition, the Commission 

 recommended that authorization to continue the proof- 

 of-concept study after the six- to ten-month pilot study 

 be contingent on submission of a report describing the 

 results of the pilot study and, if there is any doubt as 

 to whether operation of the sound source would have 

 more than negligible effects, submission and approval 

 of a proposed monitoring program to verify that any 

 effects on marine mammals are in fact negligible. 



The National Marine Fisheries Service issued the 

 requested permit on 5 October 1995. By the end of 

 1995 the State of Hawaii had not issued the permits 



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