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May 2018 VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study

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May 2018 VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study, Virginia Beach, Virginia: 2017 Annual Progress Report Submitted to: Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic under Contract No. N62470-15-D-8006, Task Order 35, issued to HDR, Inc. Prepared by Amy Engelhaupt1 Jessica M. Aschettino2, Dan Engelhaupt2, and Michael Richlen2 1Amy Engelhaupt Consulting Virginia Beach, Virginia 2HDR Virginia Beach, Virginia Submitted by: May 2018 Virginia Beach, VA Suggested Citation: Engelhaupt, A., J.M. Aschettino, and D. Engelhaupt. 2018. VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study, Virginia Beach, Virginia: 2017 Annual Progress Report. Prepared for U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Submitted to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, under Contract No. N62470-15-8006, Task Order 35, issued to HDR Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia. May 2018. Cover Photo Credit: Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) tag and biopsy approach off the coast of Virginia. Photographed by Todd Pusser. Photograph taken under National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Research Permit No. 16239, issued to Dan Engelhaupt / HDR. This project is funded by U.S. Fleet Forces Command and managed by Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic as part of the U.S. Navy’s marine species monitoring program. DoN | VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study, Virginia Beach, VA: 2017 Annual Progress Report Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................................................................................iii 1. Introduction and Background .......................................................................................... 1 2. Methods ............................................................................................................................. 2 2.1 SURVEY OPERATIONS .................................................................................................... 4 2.2 PHOTOGRAPHY AND DATA LOGGING ............................................................................... 6 2.3 BIOPSY SAMPLE COLLECTION......................................................................................... 6 2.4 SATELLITE TAGGING ...................................................................................................... 7 3. Results ............................................................................................................................... 7 3.1 PHOTO-ID ....................................................................................................................22 3.2 BIOPSY SAMPLE COLLECTION........................................................................................23 3.3 SATELLITE TAGGING .....................................................................................................24 4. Discussion .......................................................................................................................41 5. Acknowledgements .........................................................................................................42 6. References .......................................................................................................................43 Figures Figure 1. Map of the offshore study area off southeastern Virginia (green box) and the VACAPES training range surface grid in the region. ......................................................... 3 Figure 2. One of multiple sport-fishing vessels chartered for use during offshore surveys, the 16.2-m Top Notch. ....................................................................................................... 4 Figure 3. Offshore survey tracks for all surveys conducted in 2017. ..........................................10 Figure 4. Locations of all baleen and sperm whale (n=41) sightings in 2017. ............................11 Figure 5. Locations of all toothed whale, dolphin, and porpoise (n=212) sightings in 2017. .......12 Figure 6. Locations of all sea turtle (n=49) sightings in 2017. ....................................................13 Table 8. Summary of results from satellite tag data for all fin whale tags deployed in 2017. ......26 Figure 7. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of sperm whale HDRVAPm002 over 21.0 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................27 Figure 8. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of sperm whale HDRVAPm006 over 30.8 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................28 Figure 9. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of sperm whale HDRVAPm007 over 29.6 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................29 Figure 10. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of sperm whale HDRVAPm010 over 13.4 days of tag-attachment duration. ..............................................................................30 Figure 11. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of sperm whale HDRVAPm018 over 3.6 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................31 May 2018 | i DoN | VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study, Virginia Beach, VA: 2017 Annual Progress Report Figure 12. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of sperm whale HDRVAPm022 over 15.5 days of tag-attachment duration. ..............................................................................32 Figure 13. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of sperm whale HDRVAPm023 over 24.9 days of tag-attachment duration. ..............................................................................33 Figure 14. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of sperm whale HDRVAPm025 over 5.7 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................34 Figure 15. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of fin whale HDRVABp017 over 26.8 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................35 Figure 16. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of fin whale HDRVABp018 over 18.5 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................36 Figure 17. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of fin whale HDRVABp019 over 39.0 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................37 Figure 18. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of fin whale HDRVABp025 over 6.8 days of tag-attachment duration. ...............................................................................................38 Figure 19. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of fin whale HDRVABp026 over 30.1 days of tag-attachment duration. ......................................................................................39 Figure 20. Filtered locations (white dots) and track of fin whale HDRVABp027 over 6.8 days of tag-attachment duration. ...............................................................................................40 Tables Table 1. Summary of 2017 offshore survey efforts off Virginia Beach, Virginia. .......................... 9 Table 2. Summary of marine mammal sightings during 14 offshore vessel surveys in 2017. ....14 Table 3. Summary of sea turtle sightings during 14 offshore vessel surveys in 2017. ...............21 Table 4. Summary of photo-identified baleen and sperm whale individuals sighted in 2017. .....22 Table 5. Summary of tag deployment details for all sperm whale tags deployed in 2017. .........25 Table 6. Summary of tag deployment details for all fin whale tags deployed in 2017. ...............25 Table 7. Summary of results from satellite tag data for all sperm whale tags deployed in 2017. ................................................................................................................................26 Table 9. Summary of dive data for all sperm whale SPLASH tags deployed in 2017. ...............26 Table 10. Summary of dive data for all fin whale SPLASH tags deployed in 2017. ....................26 May 2018 | ii DoN | VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study, Virginia Beach, VA: 2017 Annual Progress Report Acronyms and Abbreviations AMAPPS Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species BSS Beaufort sea state GPS Global Positioning System hr hour(s) km kilometer(s) LIMPET Low-Impact Minimally Percutaneous Electronic Transmitter m meter(s) min minute(s) MMO marine mammal observer NAVFAC LANT Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic NM nautical mile(s) NSN Naval Station Norfolk OPAREA Operating Area PAM passive acoustic monitoring photo-ID photo-identification sec second(s) SPOT Smart Position and Temperature U.S. United States VACAPES Virginia Capes May 2018 | iii DoN | VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study, Virginia Beach, VA: 2017 Annual Progress Report This page intentionally left blank. May 2018 | iv DoN | VACAPES Outer Continental Shelf Cetacean Study, Virginia Beach, VA: 2017 Annual Progress Report 1. Introduction and Background The United States (U.S.) Navy routinely conducts training and testing activities in the Virginia Capes (VACAPES) Operating Area (OPAREA) off the mid-Atlantic. Since 2012, HDR has worked with the U.S. Navy to carry out vessel-based line transect visual surveys, photo- identification (photo-ID) surveys, and focal-follow surveys, with the goal of determining common
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