Supplemental Environmental Assessment on the Effects of Issuing an Amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 16109-01 for Protected Sea Turtles and Marine Mammals

The proposed action is to amend the permit to:
1) extend the action area to include all U.S. waters from Maine to Florida to the limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone;
2) add harassment during aerial surveys;
3) add Blainsville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles to the species that may be harassed;
4) change the frequency of vessel-based surveys from once per season to twice a month, year-round; and
5) increase the number of marine mammals and sea turtles that could be harassed.