Contact: Scott Smullen - NMFS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 713-2370 10/6/95
The federal government today gave the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of La Jolla, Calif., approval for a two-year research project to determine the effects of low-frequency sound on marine animals in an area nearly 15 kilometers north of Kauai, Hawaii, announced the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scripps is authorized to conduct a proposed two-year project north of Haena Point, Kauai, that will attempt to assess and evaluate the potential effects of certain sound transmissions on the distribution and behavior of marine animals, and to identify ways to avoid any potential disruption that the transmissions may cause. This project is part of a larger effort by Scripps to monitor long-term changes to ocean temperature by measuring transmission times of low frequency sound.
Scripps must follow 26 special measures to protect marine mammals and sea turtles, including safeguards to shut down the sound source immediately if any adverse effects are observed. The NOAA agencies conclude that the research should have little effect on marine mammals and sea turtles if the protective measures are followed. However, NOAA will require Scripps to modify their research if significant adverse effects to the animals are observed.
NOAA held Hawaii public hearings and extended several comment periods over a two-year period to collect all available scientific data about the potential effects of Scrippsþproposed Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) research. In addition, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, sponsor of the Scripps project, and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service developed an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service added protective measures to an agency permit that will allow the acoustical research to occur without violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act or the Endangered Species Act. NOAA officials believe the special conditions of the permit will minimize potential adverse effects to marine mammals and sea turtles.
For example, the fisheries service permit conditions require Scripps to document and report all changes in marine mammal distribution and behavior within a 25 kilometer radius of the research area, and Scripps must submit bi-monthly progress reports and a six-month report detailing observations of the marine mammals and sea turtles in response to the sound transmissions.
The reports will be reviewed by marine mammal scientists and representatives from NOAA's fisheries service, the Marine Mammal Commission, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Marine Mammal Research Protocol Advisory Board.