affected; and (5) a program of noise evaluation and monitoring 

 of whale behavior be considered to better determine the 

 noise impact boundaries of drilling locations. 



The North Slope Borough of Alaska questioned certain 

 aspects of the National Marine Fisheries Service's amended 

 Biological Opinion. The Borough also questioned the adequacy 

 of the Minerals Management Service's plans for conducting 

 aerial surveys to determine when bowhead whales were in or 

 near areas where they might be affected by geophysical 

 seismic operations. On 30 July 1982, the Borough requested 

 that the Marine Mammal Commission review the proposed monitoring 

 program. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, reviewed the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service's Biological Opinion and other documents related to 

 the proposed monitoring program. On 15 September 1982, the 

 Commission advised the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 that it agreed with the Service's determination that regular 

 aerial surveys appear to offer the only practical means for 

 determining when whales are in or near areas where they 

 might be affected by seismic or drilling operations. The 

 Commission noted, however, that it was not possible, from 

 the information available, to determine whether or how 

 frequently individuals or groups of whales might be present 

 but not detected in or near areas where seismic operations 

 are being conducted. The Commission recommended that the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service investigate, and take such 

 steps as may be necessary to assure that the proposed monitoring 

 program responded adequately to the recommendations in its 1 

 April Biological Opinion. 



Many of the uncertainties concerning the adequacy of 

 the proposed monitoring program could not be resolved prior 

 to the beginning of the bowhead ' s fall migration. A program 

 review was held on 14 December and, during this review, a 

 number of deficiencies and problems were noted. To avoid 

 similar problems in 1983, the Minerals Management Service 

 plans to convene a meeting of all interested parties, early 

 in 1983, to discuss and, if possible, agree on a program for 

 determining when seismic operations should be stopped to 

 prevent impacting bowhead whales. 



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