MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1995 



the proposed action would be relatively short-term and 

 very localized and should not affect marine mammal 

 survival. With respect to endangered and threatened 

 species, the effects of the proposed action, specifically 

 exposure to disturbance and contaminants within and 

 outside the proposed sale area, are expected to be 

 minimal. 



The Marine Mammal Commission, in consultation 

 with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, reviewed 

 the draft statement and by letter of 13 April 1995 

 provided comments to the Service. In its letter, the 

 Commission noted that, while the conclusions put 

 forth in the draft statement may be valid, the state- 

 ment did not provide data, analyses, or references to 

 support all of them. 



In addition, the Commission noted that the draft 

 statement did not provide a thorough summary or 

 assessment of the best available information concern- 

 ing marine mammals that occur in the planning area. 

 For instance, it provided only limited information on 

 the abundance and habitat-use patterns of marine 

 mammals known to occur in Cook Inlet and adjacent 

 waters and how these species and their habitats have 

 been affected by previous oil and gas development and 

 other activities. Further, it did not identify critical 

 uncertainties concerning the natural history, demogra- 

 phy, and the essential habitats and habitat components 

 of the marine mammals that could be affected or how 

 they might be affected, both directly and indirectly. 



The Commission also noted that section 20 of the 

 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended, 

 requires that the Service conduct post-lease monitoring 

 to detect and determine the cause of environmental 

 change possibly resulting from oil and gas exploration 

 and development. Therefore, the Commission recom- 

 mended that the statement be expanded to more fully 

 describe what is being done to meet the monitoring 

 requirements of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

 and to ensure that lessees are aware of the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act's prohibition on taking 

 marine mammals and the requirements for obtaining 

 a small-take exemption. 



Oil & Gas Lease Sales #157 and #161, 

 Central and Western Gulf of Mexico 



Proposed lease sale #157, tentatively scheduled for 

 March 1996, involves 5,802 blocks (about 31.2 

 million acres) of submerged lands in the central Gulf 

 of Mexico. Proposed lease sale #161, tentatively 

 scheduled for August 1996, involves 5,155 blocks 

 (approximately 28.3 million acres) in the western 

 Gulf. In April 1995 the Minerals Management 

 Service issued a draft environmental impact statement 

 on the proposed lease sales and distributed it to the 

 Marine Mammal Commission and others for review. 



The draft statement noted that 3 1 marine mammal 

 species, including 29 cetacean species, the West 

 Indian manatee, and the California sea lion, occur in 

 the proposed lease sale area. Of these, six cetacean 

 species (right, blue, fin, sei, humpback and sperm 

 whales), as well as the manatee, are endangered under 

 the Endangered Species Act. The draft statement 

 concluded that the proposed activity is expected to 

 have primarily sublethal effects on the marine mam- 

 mal species found in the area. With respect to endan- 

 gered and threatened marine mammals, lethal impacts 

 are expected to be rare, with the most likely impacts 

 resulting from vessel collisions with lethargic surfaced 

 individual animals. 



The Marine Mammal Commission, in consultation 

 with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, reviewed 

 the draft statement and by letter of 14 July 1995 

 provided comments to the Service. In its letter, the 

 Commission noted that the conclusions put forth in the 

 statement may be valid, but that the draft statement 

 did not provide the data, analyses, or references to 

 support all of them. For instance, the Commission 

 noted that the draft statement concluded that produc- 

 tion waters, drilling noises, etc., would not affect 

 marine mammal food supplies, but it provided no 

 information on principal prey, feeding areas, or food 

 requirements of the various marine mammals that 

 occur in and near the proposed lease sale areas. 



Additionally, the draft statement indicated that the 

 West Indian manatee is common in the Gulf of 

 Mexico, but it provided little information with regard 

 to the distribution, abundance, and productivity of the 



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