CJMT EIS/OEIS Appendix M.1 April 2015 Draft Marine Biology Technical Memo APPENDIX M.1 MARINE BIOLOGY TECHNICAL MEMO Table of Contents 1.0 UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1 1.2 FUNDAMENTALS OF UNDERWATER SOUND ............................................................................1 1.3 EFFECTS OF PILE INSTALLATION AND REMOVAL ACTIVITIES .....................................................3 1.3.1 Description of Noise Sources .............................................................................................. 3 1.3.2 Sound Exposure Criteria and Thresholds ............................................................................ 4 1.3.3 Limitations of Existing Noise Criteria .................................................................................. 5 1.3.4 Ambient Noise .................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 DISTANCE TO SOUND THRESHOLDS ........................................................................................6 1.4.1 Underwater Sound Propagation Formula ........................................................................... 6 1.4.2 Underwater Noise from Pile Driving and Extraction .......................................................... 6 1.4.3 Auditory Masking ................................................................................................................ 9 1.5 GENERAL THREATS .................................................................................................................9 1.6 SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS ......................................................................................................... 11 1.6.1 Endangered Species Act-listed Species ............................................................................. 11 1.6.2 Other Marine Mammal Species ........................................................................................ 20 1.7 DESCRIPTION OF TAKE CALCULATION ................................................................................... 33 1.8 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MEASURES ................................................................................. 37 1.8.1 Construction Best Management Practices ....................................................................... 37 1.8.2 Operation Best Management Practices ............................................................................ 38 1.9 POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF PILE DRIVING ON MARINE MAMMALS .............................................. 38 1.9.1 Underwater Noise Effects ................................................................................................. 38 1.10 CONCLUSIONS REGARDING IMPACTS TO SPECIES OR STOCKS ................................................ 40 1.11 IMPACTS TO THE MARINE MAMMAL HABITAT AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF RESTORATION ...................................................................................................................... 41 1.11.1 Pile Driving Effects on Potential Prey (Fish) ...................................................................... 41 1.11.2 Pile Driving Effects on Potential Foraging Habitat ............................................................ 41 1.11.3 Summary of Impacts to Marine Mammal Habitat ............................................................ 42 2.0 Coral .................................................................................................................................... 43 2.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 43 2.1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 43 2.1.2 Corals of the CNMI ............................................................................................................ 43 2.1.3 Coral Life History ............................................................................................................... 43 2.1.4 2013 Coral Surveys of Tinian and Pagan ........................................................................... 44 2.1.5 Data Analysis Methodology .............................................................................................. 45 i CJMT EIS/OEIS Appendix M.1 April 2015 Draft Marine Biology Technical Memo 2.2 DATA ANALYSIS RESULTS ..................................................................................................... 46 2.2.1 Tinian ................................................................................................................................ 46 2.2.2 Pagan................................................................................................................................. 71 2.3 COMPARISON OF SURVEY DATA ........................................................................................... 90 2.3.1 Population Metrics Overview ........................................................................................... 90 2.3.2 Tinian ................................................................................................................................ 91 2.3.3 Pagan................................................................................................................................. 92 3.0 References ........................................................................................................................... 94 3.1.1 Underwater Acoustics ....................................................................................................... 94 3.1.2 Coral ................................................................................................................................ 110 ii CJMT EIS/OEIS Appendix M.1 April 2015 Draft Marine Biology Technical Memo List of Figures 1 Zones of Influence Associated with NMFS Threshold Criteria for Vibratory and Impact Pile Driving ............................................................................................................................ 35 2 Unai Chulu Cumulative Coral Species Representation Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ............................................................................................................................................... 49 3 Unai Chulu Relative Abundance of Coral Species Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ....................... 50 4 Unai Chulu Size-Frequency Histogram of the Most Abundant Coral Species ................................... 52 5 Unai Chulu Size-Frequency Histogram of the ESA Coral Species from All Surveys ........................... 53 6 Unai Babui Cumulative Coral Species Representation Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ............................................................................................................................................ 56 7 Unai Babui Relative Abundance of Coral Species Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ....................... 57 8 Unai Babui Size-Frequency Histogram of the Most Abundant Coral Species Based on Quadrat Counts ................................................................................................................................. 58 9 Unai Babui Size-Frequency Histogram of the Most Abundant ESA-Proposed Threatened Coral Species from all Surveys ....................................................................................... 59 10 Unai Lam Lam Cumulative Coral Species Representation Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ............................................................................................................................................... 62 11 Unai Lam Lam Relative Abundance of Coral Species Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ............................................................................................................................................... 63 12 Unai Lam Lam Size-Frequency Histogram of the Most Abundant Coral Species .............................. 64 13 Unai Lam Lam Size-Frequency Histogram of ESA Coral Species from All Samples ........................... 65 14 Unai Masalok Cumulative Coral Species Representation Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ............................................................................................................................................... 68 15 Unai Masalok Relative Abundance of Coral Species Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ................... 69 16 Unai Masalok Size-Frequency Histogram of the Most Abundant ESA-Proposed Threatened Coral Species from all Surveys ....................................................................................... 70 17 Green Beach Cumulative Coral Species Representation Based on Quadrat Colony Counts ............................................................................................................................................... 74 18 Green Beach Relative Abundance of Coral Species Based on Quadrat Colony Counts .................... 75 19 Green Beach Size-Frequency Histogram of the Most Abundant Coral Species ................................ 76 20 Green Beach Size-Frequency Histogram of ESA Coral Species from All Surveys .............................. 78 21 Red Beach Size-Frequency Histogram of ESA Coral Species from All Surveys .................................. 81 22 South Beach Cumulative Coral Species Representation Based on Quadrat