Chapter IX — OCS Development 



species. The draft statement also noted that manatees 

 rarely venture as far west as the proposed lease sale 

 areas and therefore were excluded from the analyses. 



In its letter, the Commission noted that, while it is 

 true that few manatees are seen outside Florida, it 

 does not necessarily follow that manatees rarely 

 venture into the proposed lease sale area. Based on 

 opportunistic sightings and recent strandings, it 

 appears that at least small numbers of manatees 

 migrate or disperse northward from Mexico and 

 westward from Florida into areas shoreward of the 

 proposed lease sale areas. In addition, vessels travel- 

 ing to and from the lease sale areas could pose a 

 threat to any manatees inhabiting or migrating through 

 the northern Gulf. Likewise, oil spills and other 

 contaminants introduced into the environment in or 

 near the lease sale areas could pose a threat. 



In the Commission's opinion, the greatest threat to 

 manatees would be a large oil spill occurring in or 

 near the lease sale areas and the oil being transported 

 by wind and water currents to major manatee concen- 

 trations and habitats. Therefore, the Commission 

 recommended that, if it had not already done so, the 

 Minerals Management Service consult with the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service to obtain the best available 

 information on all manatee populations and habitats 

 that potentially could be affected by the proposed 

 action and any reasonable and prudent alternatives that 

 might taken to avoid or minimize possible adverse 

 effects. The Commission also recommended that the 

 environmental impact statement be revised to indicate 

 the distribution, relative abundance, and status of 

 manatees along the rim of the Gulf of Mexico and to 

 provide an assessment of the possible direct and 

 indirect effects of a major oil spill on manatee distri- 

 bution and abundance in known habitat areas. 



With respect to cetaceans, the Commission noted 

 that the Service had provided support for studies to 

 determine when, where, and what cetacean species 

 may be directly or indirectly affected by oil and gas 

 activities in the Gulf. Although these studies are 

 referred to in the draft statement, the study results to 

 date apparently were not considered during its prepa- 

 ration. Therefore, the Commission recommended 

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

 its contractors and the National Marine Fisheries 



Service to obtain the best available information on 

 populations of bottlenose dolphins, spotted dolphins, 

 and other marine mammals that are present and could 

 be affected, directly or indirectly, by oil and gas- 

 related activities in the area. 



On a related matter, the draft statement cited 

 studies that suggested that contact with oil and 

 consumption of oil and oil-contaminated prey are 

 unlikely to have more than temporary, non-lethal 

 effects on cetaceans. The Commission noted that the 

 results of studies to assess the effects of the Exxon 

 Valdez oil spill on seals, sea otters, and other marine 

 mammals suggest that oil spills may have substantially 

 greater chronic and acute effects on marine mammals, 

 including cetaceans, than indicated by the studies cited 

 in the draft statement. Therefore, the Commission 

 recommended that the Minerals Management Service 

 consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental 

 Protection Agency, the Alaska Department of Fish 

 and Game, and other organizations to obtain the best 

 available information concerning both the direct and 

 indirect effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on marine 

 mammals. 



Proposed Lease Sale #144, 

 Beaufort Sea 



Proposed lease sale #144, tentatively scheduled for 

 late in 1996, involves 1,879 blocks (approximately 9.8 

 million acres) of submerged lands off the northern 

 coast of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea. In August 1995 

 the Minerals Management Service issued a draft 

 environmental impact statement on the proposed lease 

 sale and distributed it to the Marine Mammal Com- 

 mission and others for review. 



The draft noted that six species of non-endangered 

 marine mammals (ringed seals, bearded seals, spotted 

 seals, walruses, polar bears, and beluga whales) occur 

 commonly in the Beaufort Sea and that the endangered 

 bowhead whale is found seasonally in the area. The 

 draft concluded that, with respect to non-endangered 

 marine mammal species, the proposed activities are 

 expected to result in the loss of small numbers of 

 seals, walruses, polar bears, and beluga whales, and 

 that the affected populations would recover within one 



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