MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1995 



Force requesting authorization to harass small num- 

 bers of harbor seals and possibly other pinniped 

 species incidental to launches of McDonnell Douglas 

 Aerospace Delta II rockets from Vandenberg Air 

 Force Base, California. The application was forward- 

 ed to the Commission for review and comment on 15 

 August 1995. A notice of receipt of the application 

 and the Service's proposed response was published in 

 the Federal Register on 18 August 1995. 



The Marine Mammal Commission, in consultation 

 with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, forwarded 

 comments on the application to the Service on 18 

 September 1995. The Commission concurred with the 

 Service's determination that small numbers of harbor 

 seals, California sea lions, and northern elephant seals 

 might be harassed incidentally as a consequence of 

 some Delta II launches and that any such harassment 

 likely would have negligible effects. The Commission 

 questioned the Service's determination that there was 

 little possibility that other species might be harassed 

 and recommended that the Service consult with the 

 applicant to determine whether additional species 

 should be included in the authorization. 



The Commission also noted that the monitoring 

 program being proposed by the Service was not 

 described in sufficient detail to judge whether it would 

 be capable of verifying that the authorized harassment, 

 by itself and in combination with harassment from 

 other vehicle launches from Vandenberg Air Force 

 Base, has negligible effects on the affected marine 

 mammal stocks. Noting that launches of a variety of 

 rockets from Vandenberg were likely to continue for 

 an indefinite period of time, the Commission recom- 

 mended that the Service consult with the Air Force to 

 determine whether it would make more sense to seek 

 a collective five-year authorization for harassment and 

 perhaps other types of taking pursuant to section 

 101(a)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 

 rather than separate, one-year authorizations under 

 section 101(a)(5)(D) of the Act for each type of rocket 

 launched from Vandenberg. 



The requested authorization was issued by the 

 Service on 19 September 1995. The authorization 

 reflected some, but not all of the recommendations 

 made by the Commission. The Service explained its 

 rationale for not adopting all of the Commission's 



recommendations in a 10 October 1995 Federal 

 Register notice describing the incidental harassment 

 authorization. The Service concurred with the Com- 

 mission's recommendation that the Air Force be 

 consulted to determine whether it might be preferable 

 to seek a five-year authorization for taking marine 

 mammals incidental to launches of all rockets from 

 Vandenberg rather than a series of one-year authoriza- 

 tions for each type of launch vehicle. 



Seismic Surveys in the Santa Barbara Channel 



On 11 May 1995 the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service received an application from the Exxon 

 Company USA requesting authorization to harass 

 small numbers of cetaceans incidental to three-dimen- 

 sional seismic surveys in the western portion of the 

 Santa Barbara Channel off southern California. 

 Notice of the application and the Service's proposed 

 response were published in the Federal Register on 7 

 June 1995. 



The Marine Mammal Commission, in consultation 

 with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, reviewed 

 and by letter of 25 July 1995 provided comments and 

 recommendations on the application and the Service's 

 proposed response. The Commission questioned 

 whether all species that might be affected by the 

 planned seismic surveys had been identified. The 

 Commission also questioned the estimates of the 

 numbers of the different species that might be affect- 

 ed; whether taking would be by acoustic harassment 

 only; and whether the proposed monitoring program 

 would be sufficient to document the species and 

 numbers of animals taken and to verify that any taking 

 is by harassment only and has negligible effects. The 

 Commission recommended that the Service include in 

 its authorization all cetacean and pinniped species 

 known to occur in the Santa Barbara Channel; that the 

 authorization require the immediate suspension of 

 operations if taking occurs by means other than 

 harassment; and, unless a more compelling case could 

 be made to justify the Service's "negligible effects" 

 determination, that the requested incidental-take 

 authorization not be provided until the Service, in 

 consultation with the Commission, was satisfied that 

 the monitoring program would be sufficient to verify 

 that only the authorized species and numbers of 

 marine mammals were taken and that the taking was 



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