L-DEO Cascadia Survey IHA Application
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Request by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for an Incidental Harassment Authorization to Allow the Incidental Take of Marine Mammals during Marine Geophysical Surveys by R/V Marcus G. Langseth of the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, Late Spring/Summer 2020 submitted by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory 61 Route 9W, P.O. Box 1000 Palisades, NY, 10964-8000 to National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources 1315 East–West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282 Application Prepared by LGL Limited, environmental research associates 22 Fisher St., POB 280 King City, Ont. L7B 1A6 21 November 2019 Revised 20 December 2019 LGL Report FA0186-01B Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Page SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 I. OPERATIONS TO BE CONDUCTED .............................................................................................................. 2 Overview of the Activity .................................................................................................................... 2 Source Vessel Specifications .............................................................................................................. 4 Airgun Description ............................................................................................................................. 5 Predicted Sound Levels ............................................................................................................ 5 OBS Description and Deployment ..................................................................................................... 6 Description of Operations ................................................................................................................... 7 II. DATES, DURATION, AND REGION OF ACTIVITY....................................................................................... 7 III. SPECIES AND NUMBERS OF MARINE MAMMALS IN AREA ..................................................................... 8 IV. STATUS, DISTRIBUTION AND SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF AFFECTED SPECIES OR STOCKS OF MARINE MAMMALS ....................................................................................................................... 8 Mysticetes ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Odontocetes ...................................................................................................................................... 19 Pinnipeds .......................................................................................................................................... 30 Fissipeds ........................................................................................................................................... 36 V. TYPE OF INCIDENTAL TAKE AUTHORIZATION REQUESTED .................................................................. 37 VI. NUMBERS OF MARINE MAMMALS THAT COULD BE TAKEN................................................................ 37 VII. ANTICIPATED IMPACT ON SPECIES OR STOCKS .................................................................................. 38 Summary of Potential Effects of Airgun Sounds ............................................................................. 38 Tolerance ................................................................................................................................ 38 Masking .................................................................................................................................. 39 Disturbance Reactions ............................................................................................................ 39 Hearing Impairment and Other Physical Effects.................................................................... 46 Possible Effects of Other Acoustic Sources ..................................................................................... 49 Other Possible Effects of Seismic Surveys ....................................................................................... 51 Numbers of Marine Mammals that could be “Taken by Harassment” ............................................. 52 Basis for Estimating “Takes” ................................................................................................. 53 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 56 VIII. ANTICIPATED IMPACT ON SUBSISTENCE ........................................................................................... 57 IX. ANTICIPATED IMPACT ON HABITAT ..................................................................................................... 57 X. ANTICIPATED IMPACT OF LOSS OR MODIFICATION OF HABITAT ON MARINE MAMMALS ................... 57 XI. MITIGATION MEASURES....................................................................................................................... 58 Planning Phase.................................................................................................................................. 58 Mitigation During Operations .......................................................................................................... 59 L-DEO IHA Application for the Cascadia Subduction Zone, 2020 Page ii Table of Contents Shut-down/Power-down Procedures ...................................................................................... 59 Ramp-up Procedures .............................................................................................................. 59 XII. PLAN OF COOPERATION ...................................................................................................................... 60 XIII. MONITORING AND REPORTING PLAN ................................................................................................ 60 Vessel-based Visual Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 61 Passive Acoustic Monitoring ............................................................................................................ 61 PSO Data and Documentation .......................................................................................................... 62 XIV. COORDINATING RESEARCH TO REDUCE AND EVALUATE INCIDENTAL TAKE .................................. 63 XV. LITERATURE CITED ............................................................................................................................. 63 LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................. 104 APPENDIX A: DETERMINATION OF MITIGATION ZONES .......................................................................... A-1 APPENDIX B: METHODS FOR MARINE MAMMAL DENSITIES AND TAKE CALCULATIONS ....................... B-1 APPENDIX C: ENSONIFIED AREAS FOR MARINE MAMMAL TAKE CALCULATIONS ................................. C-1 L-DEO IHA Application for the Cascadia Subduction Zone, 2020 Page iii Summary Request by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for an Incidental Harassment Authorization to Allow the Incidental Take of Marine Mammals during Marine Geophysical Surveys by R/V Marcus G. Langseth of the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, Late Spring/Summer 2020 SUMMARY Researchers from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO) of Columbia University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the University of Texas at Austin Institute of Geophysics (UTIG), with funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), and in collaboration with researchers from Dalhousie University and Simon Fraser University (SFU), propose to conduct high-energy seismic surveys from the Research Vessel (R/V) Marcus G. Langseth (Langseth) in combination with Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) and Nodes (OBN) at the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Northeast Pacific Ocean during late spring/summer 2020. The NSF-owned Langseth is operated by L-DEO under an existing Cooperative Agreement. The proposed two-dimensional (2-D) seismic surveys would occur within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of Canada and the U.S., including U.S. state waters and Canadian Territorial Waters. This request is submitted pursuant to Section 101 (a)(5)(D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 16 U.S.C. § 1371(a)(5). Numerous species of marine mammals inhabit the proposed project area in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Under the U.S. ESA, several of these species are listed as endangered, including the North Pacific right, humpback (Central America Distinct Population Segment or DPS), sei, fin, blue, sperm, and Southern Resident DPS of killer whales. It is unlikely that a gray whale from the endangered Western North Pacific DPS would occur in the project area at the time of the surveys. In addition, the threatened Mexico DPS of the humpback whale and the threatened Guadalupe fur seal could occur in the proposed project area. The North Pacific right whale, the Pacific populations of sei and blue whales, and Southern Resident killer whales are also listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA); the Pacific population of fin whale, and all other populations of killer whales in the Pacific Ocean are listed as threatened. The northern sea otter is the one marine mammal species mentioned