| Purpose: |
North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis; hereafter: “right whale”) are among the rarest large whale species with a 2020 estimated population of fewer than 366 individuals (R. Pace, pers. comm.). In addition to elevated mortalities caused by vessel-strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, it is widely acknowledged that right whales may ultimately succumb to the less obvious threat of habitat degradation. Right whales are known to occur in Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters in all months of the year with peak occurrence from January through April. The monitoring efforts for which we are seeking this permit renewal have demonstrated that Cape Cod Bay, the focus of the study, is an important feeding, nursery, and socializing area for a large portion of the remaining population of right whales in the North Atlantic Ocean, leading to the bay’s designation in 1994 as one of the four known critical habitats along the U.S. East Coast and, in 2019, to its inclusion in the expanded Gulf of Maine Right Whale Critical Habitat.
Understanding the real-time movements and habitat use patterns of right whales underpin management decisions and the waters off Massachusetts provide the best access the study of the species across its range. Because of the ease of access to a large portion of the remaining population, inferences drawn from studies in the waters off Cape Cod have and will continue to inform conservation strategies in other management areas along the U.S. East Coast.
Because of the central role that Cape Cod waters play in the aggregation patterns of right whales we seek to continue to document whale distribution, identify individual whales, characterize whale behavior, and collect information on habitat characteristics related to right whale foraging ecology. The information collected during the studies will be shared freely with colleagues through the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium and directly reported to management agencies.
The central purpose of the studies for which we seek and have previously been assigned a permit has changed little over the 37 years of our research. Generally, the purposes remain the same, to provide data that will inform the development and implementation of methods that will mitigate the threat to right whales of entanglement, ship strike, and habitat degradation and to collect and report to management agencies basic data on individual right whales and their ecology in Cape Cod Bay, the most dense right whale aggregating area in the North Atlantic Ocean. Such studies require that both vessel and aircraft work together and in close proximity to right whales in order to develop a comprehensive profile of whale movement and activities, to develop a profile of the changing demography of the species, and to issue alerts of ship strike and entanglement risk. Because of the nature of the work, it is not possible to use surrogate species since the purposes of the study are to directly mitigate the risks to the right whales.
This program will be a continuation of work which has been ongoing continuously since 1984 and has become the foundation of the Massachusetts Right Large Whale Conservation Program. The ongoing and proposed research directly addresses concerns identified by the Right Whale Conservation Plan submitted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to Federal court in 1996; and the Northeast Implementation Team. The program also supports goals in the Federal Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (1997), the Right Whale Recovery Plan (NMFS 1991), the Endangered Species Act (hereafter; ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (hereafter: MMPA) by addressing the following issues:
- The High Mortality. [by developing a process of rapid Alert of Risk assessment, forecasting areas of high risk of ship strike and entanglement and making those forecasts available to management agencies and, through them, to maritime industries; we will continue to input in near real-time all of our right whale sightings to the NMFS Sighting Advisory System and Whale Map for direct dissemination to the public.]
- Poor Calving Success. - A low and fluctuating calving rate is compromising the success of the species [by assessing the quality of the right whale habitat at multiple scales and by inferring the role of changes in nutritional support in the apparent reproductive dysfunction of the species]
- Ecological Impact of Intense Human Activities. The high degree of human use of the right whale critical feeding habitat. - Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters as part of the Northeastern U.S. Foraging Area critical habitat is subjected to intense human activity including climate change, disposal of large volumes of nutrients that may cause eutrophication of the area, and industrial and recreational activity [by sampling the food resources of the right whales we have been tracking of changes in the plankton community that may profoundly impact the success of the species and influence the whales’ distribution]
- Whale Entanglement. - Whales become entangled in various parts of fixed fishing gear but the manner of that entanglement is not well understood [by documenting the relationship between the food resource and the whales' foraging behavior deepening our understanding of the way that whales become entangled and suggesting fishing gear modifications]
The objectives of this study, surveillance, and monitoring program are:
I) To document right whales in the Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters, an important part of the Gulf of Maine Right Whale Critical Habitat, from November through mid-May, using photo-identification techniques to identify individual whales. These data provide information on the age, sex, reproduction, distribution, abundance and patterns of habitat use (residency) of right whales in the southern Gulf of Maine and help refine long-term, range-wide analyses of sources of mortality, incidence of scarring, demographics and predictability of occurrence. Photographic and sighting data are integrated into the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium database via the photo-identification catalog at the New England Aquarium and the sighting database at the University of Rhode Island. Data collected during our surveys is integral in a variety of management strategies and is central to the present effort to track the demographics, distribution, calving, and to estimate population trajectory.
II) To provide sighting data to the National Marine Fisheries Sighting Advisory System, Whale Map, and the management team at Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (hereafter: MADMF). Sighting locations of right whales are promptly provided to the NMFS/SAS and the Whale Map databases at the completion of each survey. The goal of this reporting is to reduce the probability that right whales will be injured through collision with vessels by providing near "real-time" sighting data within Massachusetts waters to port authorities, commercial and military vessels, other maritime operations, and public mariners. Additionally, occurrence and distribution data from vessel and aircraft surveys permits the MADMF to dynamically manage lobster fisheries during the season of right whale aggregation in Cape Cod Bay, particularly at the beginning and of the season of aggregation. These surveys provide the majority of the data for the NMFS advisory system during the winter and spring in the northeast; there are no other habitat and aerial surveys covering the season of right whale aggregation in Cape Cod Bay, which area is an important part of the federally designated Northeastern U.S. Foraging Area Critical Habitat.
III) To monitor right whales in the study area for evidence of entanglement. Each right whale encountered is examined visually and photographically for evidence of entangling gear. The disentanglement team at CCS is on standby, ready for immediate dispatch in the event an entangled whale is reported and disentangling efforts may be initiated with the support of the aerial/vessel teams under the authority of NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program’s permit.
IV) To collect food resource information during vessel cruises, from November through May, designed to develop an understanding of the characteristics of the habitat to which right whales respond spatially and behaviorally. These data, combined with data from past habitat studies in Cape Cod Bay by the Right Whale Ecology Program (hereafter: RWEP) at the Center for Coastal Studies (hereafter: CCS), provide information on the conditions that cue the movements and activities of right whales in Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters. Management agencies, MADMF and the National Marine Fisheries Service (hereafter: NMFS) have used these data to forecast whale movements and residency times within the study area. The agencies, particularly MADMF, have issued vessel speed advisories and amended seasonal gear restrictions on a real-time basis in response to right whale distribution predictions based on controlling characteristics of the food resource in the Bay provided and adjacent waters identified by the studies for which we seek this permit renewal. The proposed work will continue to support these ongoing conservation efforts to manage the causes of anthropogenic mortality in the right whales. Furthermore, no research program of which we are aware world-wide, not federal, state, or private, have undertaken the long-term systematic paired surveys of habitat quality and distribution and behavior of right whales in either hemisphere for which this permit renewal is requested. An understanding of the relationship between habitat quality and the whale’s residency and habitat use is critically important to the development of conservation strategies for the species, particularly during a time of climate change.
V) To describe the distribution and abundance of any other marine mammals and shipping activity in Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters from December through mid-May. Although the target species is the right whale, opportunistic information on the distribution of non-target species of marine mammals is collected and yields valuable data for conservation and management of those non-target species, and is, hence, made available to the scientific community.
VI) To describe the diving patterns of right whales as related to vertical distribution and migration of food layers in order to define the shifting patterns of risk associated with feeding behavior.
The principal products of the proposed continuing surveillance effort for MADMF are the near-real-time reporting of whale distribution for dynamic management action by the agency and, after analysis, submission of photos of identified individual right whales to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. Additionally, publications resulting from previously permitted surveillance work resulting direct authorship or collaborative co-authorship. Among the many findings from field work under NMFS’ permits since the early 1980’s are:
1. Identification of Cape Cod Bayas a critical habitat for foraging, socializing, and nursing calves of right whales (Mayo and Marx,1990)
2. Identification of the principal zooplankters influencing right whale distribution in Cape Cod Bay as a complex of various canaloid copepods (not solely C. finmarchicus as previously and still believed by some) (Mayo and Marx, 1999; Kenney, 2001; Pendletion et al., 2009; Pendleton et al., 2012)
3. Identification of the foraging threshold for right whale feeding at approximately 4,000 organisms m-1; a measure of habitat quality (Mayo and Goldman, 1992; Mayo et al., 2001; Kenney et al., 2009)
4. Establishing the caloric value of right whale food intake in Cape Cod Bay (DeLorenzo Costa et al., 2006; Mayo et al. ms in prep)
5. Defining the cyclic nature of zooplankton food availability and its control of right whale distribution (Nichols et al., 2008, Hudak et al., ms in prep).
6. Applying zooplankton capture parameters to models of right whale aggregation for management purposes (Pendleton et al., 2012; Record et al., 2019)
7. Documenting inter-annual variations in distribution and habitat use by right whales in Cape Cod Bay (Mayo et al., 2018)
8. Defining site fidelity structure of three cohorts of right whales visiting Cape Cod Bay (Mayo et al., 2018; Mayo et al., ms in prep)
9. Demonstrating the use of aerial and vessel surveillance for dynamic management of the risks to right whales in Cape Cod Bay (Mayo et al., 2000; Leeney et al., 2009)
10. Documenting the physical characteristics of Cape Cod Bay related to the formation of hyperdense patches of calanoid copepods and implications for right whale foraging response (Jiang et al., 2007a; Costa et al., 2017; Costa et al., 2021; Hudak et al., ms in prep)
Raw data and photos (32,000+ in 2021) from the RWEP (hereafter: RWEP) at Center for Coastal Studies (hereafter: CCS) and opportunistic data reported to CCS, including all photos from flights and cruises, are contributed to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium and used in used in analyses by many collaborators. Importantly, because of the recent extraordinary increase in right whales visiting Cape Cod Bay, RWEP/CCS has contributed the largest volume of images and individual identifications to the Consortium database over the last decade, many deep statistical analyses including the Pace et al. (2017) finding a decline in the population starting in 2010. Thus analyses on which critical management decisions have been made have been dependent on the information coming from the 37 years of study for which continued permitting is sought.
In addition to the findings summarized in the publications cited above, ongoing research in Cape Cod Bay is, because of the dense aggregation of whales documented in the last decade and the importance of the dynamic management methods established by MADMF, an important area for collaborative efforts that CCS undertakes yearly.
CCS assists management agencies and research groups as part of an ongoing effort to maximize the collaborative efforts to study the North Atlantic right whale. The institutions with whom CCS collaborates and has shared real time information or data on whale presence, distribution, behavior, and individual identification include (a partial list): NMFS, Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuary, Woods Hole Oceanographic institution, University of Rhode Island, Duke University, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, University of Maine, Cornell University, Oregon State University, New England Aquarium.
Other Marine Mammal Species:
During regular aerial and vessel surveys a variety of species of marine mammals and other mega fauna are encountered while searching for the target species, right whales. We endeavor to document the location of such species, to estimate the number of individuals, and to otherwise collect such opportunistic information when available. As indicated in the methods section of this application, because field time is limited, particularly during the winter, documentation of other marine mammals is limited to on-the-fly opportunistic data collection; nevertheless, we consider the collection of such information important as a description of the setting of the observations of right whales and a valuable log of information on the rich marine mammal resources found in Cape Cod waters. That said, our field teams avoid effort associated with non-target marine mammals, avoiding circling by aircraft or approaches by vessel once the identification of a non-target species is confirmed. The takes table reflects our estimate of potential encounters and therefore potential takes of non-target species incidentally encountered during the field efforts directed at right whales.
The surveys also have as a goal the documentation of entanglements of right whales (and other species incidentally encountered during surveillance activities). The RWEP aerial team documents and assists in the disentanglement of whales located during the regular surveillance flights for which this application seeks a permit. Aerial or vessel teams will support disentanglement of whales (including non-target species) identified as entangled, however we do NOT seek a permit to support disentanglement in this application; instead, disentanglement support efforts by the RWEP teams are carried out under other NOAA permits. Thus, if a RWEP field team encounters an entangled whale, right whale or other species, we suspend regular field work described in this application and work with CCS disentanglement teams under the authority of NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program’s permit. |
| Description: |
Aerial and shipboard surveys will be conducted in the Gulf of Maine, with primary focus on Cape Cod Bay and a secondary focus on Massachusetts Bay and with occasional surveys in adjacent waters as distribution of right whales dictates, including but not limited to the Great South Channel, Massachusetts Bay, Jeffreys Ledge, Rhode Island Sound, and shelf waters south of Cape Cod and the Islands including the New York Bight (see Figure 1). As part of the effort to achieve the research goals (see Project Purpose). Aerial surveys will serve as a platform for photo-identification, distribution, and abundance studies. Since CCS began studies in Cape Cod Bay during the winter of 1984 (before which the Bay was not thought to be a winter residency area), the research on right whales has been the longest continuous holistic effort (study distribution, photoidentification, oceanography, and food resource analysis) to study any right whale species in the world. Because in the last decade Cape Cod waters have yearly become a residency area for approximately 50-65% of the estimated North Atlantic right whale population, continued efforts to monitor the whales in the region are critically important to the effort to conserve the species. Occasionally investigators from other institutions come to the Bay after the difficult winter months (e.g. Cornell Lab of Ornithology in 2004-2008, 2014-2017; NEFSC/Syracuse University in 2011-2014; NEFSC 2015-2016; NEAq in 2013-2016; Stellwagen Marine Sanctuary research team in 2009, 2021; WHOI in 2001 and 2016-2021) and in all cases our research project has coordinated with the federally permitted visiting investigators to provide individual identification, location, and health assessment information on a near-real-time basis to teams in the field.
In addition to those activities listed above, we wish to use unmanned aircraft systems (hereafter: UAS) as part of our effort to photo identify individual whales from the research vessel or from the shore. The UAS work for which we are seeking to permit was detailed as a requested addition to the previous permit (#19315). The UAS studies will advance ongoing right whale research in Cape Cod Bay by: (1) refining the use of UAS footage for the documentation of right whale identification and behavior, (2) documenting zooplankton prey patch and slick structure associated with right whale feeding, and (3) collecting critically important information on individual whale identification and behavior. All raw footage collected during the UAS deployment will be made available to NOAA in a MP4 or other widely used format.
The shipboard surveys will serve as a platform for habitat sampling, photo-identification, and distribution and abundance studies. Methods for each broad category of work are described below.
Because it is essential for conservation and protection of the right whale to respond to their plastic occurrence patterns, our application asks for the capacity to respond to any occurrences of right whales in the delineated region and involving issues that our efforts will be useful in mitigating with a focus on ship strike and entanglement. With the variation in right whale occurrence patterns, we know that out-of-season aggregations occasionally form (e.g. 1986) and it is critical that managers supported by our survey and assessment capacity respond forcefully and with the clear guidance of our field investigations. Thus, while we in fact anticipate sampling weekly as described during the period stipulated as "the right whale season of residency in Cape Cod Bay", should an out-of-season aggregation develop in the region described in this application, perhaps during the time of intensive fixed fishing gear and/or shipping in mid-summer, it is important to respond rapidly and with focus in order to advise NMFS and MADMF regarding management of elevated risk.
Thus, though all permitted activities will usually span the regular time of right whale residency in the area of Cape Cod Bay, 15 December – 15 May, in view of the plasticity of right whales' occurrence and distribution patterns our permit request is for 12 months of each year for all requested activities and we, further, identify a trend in seasonality that this permit will cover, such that our focused work will likely be extended into October of each season. During the summer and fall, while right whale aggregation is rare, the elevated level of risk if right whales are resident during those seasons demands the attention and mitigation offered by the proposed work as a direct support to management efforts. Hence to achieve the goals of the project we request that the permit cover the entire 12 months.
During the focal season of right whale residency in Cape Cod Bay not more than 2 cruises and 4 overflights each week are likely, with the understanding that weather controls all activities during the winter and spring both in the air and at sea. The number of responses to out-of-season occurrence will of course depend upon the level of risk (i.e. fishing gear and shipping activity mapped over location and movement of whales), weather, and need of agencies to respond to the event; thus it is likely that only under ongoing critically risky conditions will either vessel or aircraft surveys be undertaken more than twice a week during the Summer and Fall, if at all. As part of this application we request manned aerial surveys to be conducted at an altitude of 1,000ft or greater.
Take Number Rationale
The takes listed by platform and activity category are estimated from the 3+ decades of continuous vessel surveys and 2+ decades of aircraft surveillance and are listed in the "Take" section. We request a number of takes to cover a wide variety of changing conditions observed over the course of permit 19315-01: greatly increased use of Cape Cod waters by right whales, dramatically increased numbers of individual right whales (in recent years we have documented each year 50-65% of the estimated total population of the North Atlantic Ocean), a considerably extended season, the possible expansion of survey area and season, and the presence in winter and spring of "out of habitat" marine mammals (beluga, blue, and bowhead whales). For all takes both male and females are anticipated and ages will predominantly be older than 1 year, although in March-May a small number of takes of calves by being closer than 100 yards/1,000 feet by vessel/aircraft respectively may be anticipated. In total these takes include: a maximum 1,000 right whales of all demographic groups will be subject to harassment by over-flight harassment, which takes will be the result of manned aerial surveillance for photo ID and behavioral documentation efforts, with not more than an estimated 20 repeat takes respectively per individual in a year. In this permit application we request a total of 750 additional vessel takes for the purpose of photo identification, prey field studies by net tow, and behavioral documentation with a repeat individual rate of not more than an estimated 15 per year.
In order to assure our adherence to the requirements of the takes table and given the very deep uncertainty as to the number of both right whales and the non-target species our survey teams may encounter, the possibility that our survey area (within the bounds of the geographic area requested) will change, the likelihood of increased future effort, and in consideration of the above issues, our estimation of “takes” is reflective of the outer bounds of likely encounters. Thus, these take numbers allow for a wide range of changes in field effort due to weather (low ceiling, bad visibility etc.), funding, surveillance demands, changes in range, and the natural variations in species-specific habitat use. We are attempting in our takes estimate to cover all possibilities and therefore these are necessarily liberal estimates of potential takes to allow the flexibility demanded by aerial and vessel surveys, hoping to NOT compromise study parameters by reaching the estimate in the table, while remaining below the requirements of the takes table. Although the aerial surveillance team endeavors to fly above or at 1,000’, thus not triggering a take, safety during tight, low altitude circling may result in a momentary drop in altitude into the 900’s feet; although such instances resulting in a take have not been common, we have entered a high take number in order to responsibly cover such instances in the future.
Similarly, we do not expect significant takes of a number of non-target species, however during a time of changing ranges, we include species which may not be encountered but need to be listed to honestly cover potential observations, allowing for the takes of out-of-habitat non-target species constrained by a liberal estimate.
For shipboard surveys of both oceanography and of permitted marine mammal studies we operate at <10 kts. while transiting the bay. In the vicinity of whale aggregations speed is generally reduced to 5 kts. at around 1,000 meters (at the captain's discretion for safe operation of the vessel) and when inside 500 meters or when paralleling whales 2-4 kts.
MANNED AERIAL SURVEYS:
A maximum 1,000 right whales of all demographic groups may be harassed during over-flights per year, resulting from aerial surveillance for photo-identification and behavioral documentation, with not more than 20 repeated per individual per year.
The focus of manned aerial surveys in Cape Cod Bay will be October through May, however aerial surveys may be undertaken throughout the year. Additionally, we will occasionally document unusual out-of-season right whale sightings, outside of this "regular" season, using aerial survey methodology. As described above, the focus of our efforts will be during the historic season of right whale residency and high risk of entanglement and ship strike, but the whales’ plastic occurrence patterns may require surveillance and mitigation measures outside the historic period of whale residency. The number of surveys depends on the duration of each, but as of the date of this application we intend to use a minimum of 200 flight hours per survey season (i.e. per year). A full Cape Cod Bay survey takes approximately 4 hours if no whales are sighted, and duration increases as more whales are encountered.
All aerial surveys are planned to be conducted in a Cessna Skymaster, a twin-engine push-pull, high-wing aircraft with retractable landing gear. Survey airplane type may vary with sub-contractor availability. We will endeavor to fly surveys at a minimum altitude of 1,000 feet (305 m) and a ground speed of approximately 100 knots (185 km/h), using methodology developed by the Cetacean and Turtle Assessment Program (CETAP 1982; Scott and Gilbert 1982) and adapted for right whale surveys by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. While we will make every effort to fly at or above 1,000’, the exigencies of safe low altitude circling occasionally may require minimal dropping to below 1,000’ and those instances will be recorded in the standard manner as takes. The surveys will be flown in sea conditions up to Beaufort sea-state 4. Surveys will be aborted in Beaufort sea state 4 and/or when visibility decreased below two miles in fog, rain, or snow; unless the conditions are expected to improve. Analysis of right whale survey data collected using similar methods indicated that the effective total survey swath of a similarly configured Cessna Skymaster was 2.3 nm (4.2 km) (Kenney et al.1995); thus survey track lines in Cape Cod Bay are typically to detect right whales. Allowing for a survey altitude of 1,000 ft is an increase in altitude of 250 ft from the CCS historical data set (1998-2010), but will continue to allow observers to detect and document entanglement.
The aerial survey team will consist of two pilots, with two observers positioned on each side of the aircraft in the rear seats. Data will be recorded using an electronic data logger. Marks will be taken at preset intervals, changes in environmental conditions, and all sighting events. The two rear-seat observers scan the water surface from 0° to 90°, out to at least 2 nm, and report sightings when they are abeam of the aircraft. In order to maintain standardized sighting effort, the pilots are instructed not to alert the observers to a sighting until after it had been passed by the aircraft and clearly missed by the observers. All sightings of marine animals except birds will be recorded. At every sighting, the observers record species, reliability of species identification, and the number of animals. Sightings identified as species other than right whales are counted, logged and passed without breaking the track line in order to maximize flight time available for investigating right whale sightings. At sightings identified as right whales, as well as sightings of large whales not immediately identified to species, the aircraft breaks track at right angles to the sighting and circles over the animal(s). For each right whale sighting, circling at or above 1,000’is continued to allow the observers to obtain accurate counts, and to observe and document behavior, while taking photographs for individual identification (see Kraus et al. 1986 for a description of photographic methods). Although the aerial surveillance team endeavors to fly above or at 1,000’, thus not triggering a take, safety during tight, low altitude circling may result in a momentary drop in altitude into the 900’s feet; although such instances resulting in a take have not been common, we have requested manned aerial survey takes in order to responsibly cover such instances in the future. At the conclusion of photographic effort for each sighting, the aircraft will return to the track line at the point of departure indicated by the GPS position recorded in the log. Survey and sighting data will be submitted to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium database maintained at the University of Rhode Island (URI).
Average amount of time circling an individual right whale for photo-identification is 5-15 minutes. Usually after about 20 minutes the aircraft will leave the whale regardless of whether the crew collected good identification images.
Large whales other than right whales will not be circled intentionally once the species has been confirmed, however the aerial team may fly over non-target species if they are in association with right whales, therefore some circling over non-target species will occasionally occur and an opportunistic take of a non-target species will occur. We will occasionally approach a non-target species to confirm species identity or to check for an entanglement.
The non-target species that may be identified during survey flights are humpbacks (common in Cape Cod Bay from March onwards), minkes (small numbers through the right whale season), sei (small numbers through the right whale season), and fin whales (sometimes numerous in Cape Cod Bay, particularly Feb/ March onwards). Fin and humpback whales are sometimes recorded as numbering 5-50 individuals during Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay surveys from March onwards; most of these sightings will not involve approaches or circling if we can identify the species from a distance. Less than 1-5 sightings per survey may involve an approach on a non-target balaenopterid to determine species. Recent sightings of "out of habitat" species, particularly bowhead whales may necessitate an approach and photo-identification identical to those used for right whales in order to confirm species identification. A list of additional species of which may appear within the survey area have been included in the "Take" table.
SHIPBOARD SURVEYS:
A total of 750 right whale takes per year are requested for purposes photo identification, prey field studies by net tow and acoustic means, and behavioral documentation aboard the vessel with a seasonal repeat individual rate of not more than 15. Average encounter time for all activities will vary widely depending upon the behavior of the right whale. For whales on long-diving patterns, dives exceeding 20 minutes, the vessel may remain in the area of previous dive for that duration. Thus, on rare occasions the duration of the encounter may exceed 40 minutes (through 3 surfacings). More commonly the vessel will remain in the vicinity of a diving location for little more than 10 minutes. For prey sampling the encounter time often is as much a reflection of whales approaching the vessel as the reverse. The complexity of the interaction between the vessel and the whale makes "average" encounter time a poor assessment of amount of harassment, however, average encounters may be estimated to range between 3 and 40 minutes, for photo ID and behavioral documentation at ranges of greater than 100’ (30m) during the approach. Behavioral observations will be carried out in order to document feeding activity (mouth open or closed) in order to associate with zooplankton collections to define the conditions of an acceptable foraging habitat.
Shipboard surveys will typically be conducted using one of three CCS research vessels: the 40' twin diesel engine R/V Shearwater, a vessel similar in design to Shearwater, or the 40' twin outboard engine R/V Ibis; however, other vessels of similar size and type may also be used.
Although it is unlikely that any other vessel will be used for the principal study in Cape Cod Bay, other platforms could include twin engine outboard vessels between 15-30 feet (between the perpendiculars) and single or twin inboard diesel-powered vessels 30 – 60 feet in length between the perpendiculars. These vessels will be outfitted with GPS and full safety features. In addition, shore-launched UASs could be used in the case of an aggregation of whales being sighted off beaches hard to reach during periods of heavy weather in the winter (see UAS section). Under any circumstances, R/V Shearwater, as described, or a vessel of similar design is the principal boat we anticipate using for the foreseeable future.
Vessel surveys will follow track lines conducted at a speed of 10 knots or less; cruises will be conducted in sea state of Beaufort 4 or less and visibility of greater than two km. The team will consist of three to five experienced right whale researchers with the vessel operated by an experienced captain. Observer positions will include a helmsperson, a data recorder/observer and one or more additional observers on watch spotting from the flying bridge supplemented by one or two relief observers. As needed watch positions will be rotated to reduce fatigue and exposure to cold. The observer(s) will be positioned on the flying bridge and will scan the water surface out from the bow and to the port and starboard, to distance of approximately three nm. All sightings of marine animals will be counted and recorded. The location of each sighting will be determined using a GPS navigation system. Approaches to right whales for photo-identification will be conducted laterally and parallel to the whale’s swimming course at slow or idle speed (< 4 knots) with no sudden changes in vessel speed or direction. Photographs will be taken from a distance between 15 to 100 meters, depending on the circumstances. When possible, photographs will be taken of both sides of the head distinctive scars anywhere on the body. The amount of time taken to photograph a whale from the vessel will be limited to the minimum time required to secure photographs of sufficient quality for individual identification.
Underwater photography may be used in an effort to document the distribution and density of zooplankton in surface patches among foraging right whales. The UW photography will be directed at the development of methods to count plankton in the field, eventually supplanting the intensive zooplankton collection and enumeration. Because of the opacity of the water in Cape Cod Bay it is unlikely but possible that an underwater image of a right whale will be captured during these efforts, however the goal will be the documentation of the zooplankton that attract right whales to the bay. We will use a Go Pro Hero 3 camera, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or similar imaging system deployed from the side of the research vessel on a hand-held extendable pole to a maximum depth of 2 meters. The camera will be contained in a laminar flow box scaled to permit zooplankton enumeration. The duration of UW filming with each deployment of the camera will be approximately 5 minutes. Note: The zooplankton imaging system called ZCam being configured for use with a UAS and from vessel has been under development will not be deployed until the equipment meets the described requirements for this application and is capable of providing images usable for enumeration of zooplankton.
DIRECT SHIPBOARD SAMPLING
In order to document the ecological context during a cruise, plankton sampling will be undertaken by a vessel team working in concert with the behavioral and photo ID teams.
The habitat sampling effort will consist of studies supporting the goals of habitat quality assessment, the forecasting of whale distribution, and determination of foraging behavior and depth selection that exposes whales to risk of ship strike and entanglement. Habitat sampling will be conducted from the 40' twin diesel engine R/V Shearwater or R/V Ibis; however, other vessels of similar size and type may also be used. Regular data collection techniques will include the recording of survey tracks, behavior and location of whales observed during cruises, and opportunistic photographic identification. Although the primary objective of these vessel cruises is food resource sampling, photographs of any right whales in the vicinity are collected opportunistically during sampling and on transits to and from sampling sites. The effort on the vessel is directed at sampling zooplankton and collecting oceanographic data along with supplementary photos of whales for individual ID in the Cape Cod Bay area. Some of the sampling efforts will be directed at locations where whales are aggregated; however the primary effort of the project will be to assess the quality of the food resource that controls the locations where whales are or will be, and to report distribution forecasts from recently developed computer modeling and analysis to the state and federal agencies with recommendations regarding action, if necessary. Hence, the focus is not only on the area where whales are present, but instead in the sampling of the wider Cape Cod Bay environment at stations that have been sampled since 1984 (Leeney et al., 2008). If whales are reported by the air survey team or if they are sighted from the vessel, depending on time available, effort may be allotted to document the zooplankton, particularly calanoids that are causing the aggregation of whales. When whales are located a brief period (shortened days in the early winter usually preclude detailed study) of photo ID is dedicated to the effort to document individual characters and incidentally check for entanglement. During the period of vessel photo ID effort, whales will be approached as described elsewhere, hence the need for takes.
All shipboard efforts, photo ID, habitat characterization (zooplankton sampling, CDT casts, station documentation), and behavioral documentation will take place during regular “mixed” shipboard cruises with results obtained from photo ID, habitat, and behavior obtained on the same cruise. It is difficult to identify when and where each effort will occur or when and how efforts will be mixed, because weather, levels of human activities, kinds of threatening risk, whale behavior, movement and composition of the calanoid resource, and diurnal vertical migration of the zooplankton resource, impact the data collection as do funding levels, and large–scale patterns of whale movement not defined by food distribution may change the duration, focus, and extent of the intermix of efforts both around whales and throughout the Cape Cod Bay system. As with any work in the North Atlantic in winter, the judgment of the Chief Scientist and the vessel captain may necessarily change the focus of the field effort. The research vessel R/V Shearwater or vessel of similar design will be equipped with oceanographic and food resource sampling equipment including a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth), plankton nets, and vertical plankton pump. In support of traditional sampling methods used to document oceanographic conditions and to enumerate zooplankton food resources in right whale habitats an integrated CTD and zooplankton pumping and collection system will be used to document conditions in the upper 50 meters of the water column throughout the habitats under study with a focus on Cape Cod Bay. The integrated pump system is composed of a support cage with a seabird SBE 19 CTD/fluorometer/incident light PAR meter package and a hose/pump sampler for delivery of discreet water samples to a manifold filtration systems on deck. The data available from the integrated system will be compared with traditionally collected station data to develop a profile of the food resources that support the right whales and that control whale distribution and occurrence in the Cape Cod region. These data will be used to continue to refine our understanding of the characteristics of the habitat to which the right whales respond and to provide the foundation for predicting occurrence and distribution patterns of the whales that may be used in forecasting locations and times of risk of ship strike and entanglement. Focus of the effort is the documentation of the conditions that make the bay acceptable to right whales, hence we will collect one data set from the vicinity of actively feeding whales, using traditional net-sampling equipment within three meters of the mouth passage (the edge of the feeding cylinder, 50-100m behind the whale). Added to these data will be collections from up to 18 fixed stations established for sampling in 1984.
Zooplankton sampling using filtration techniques and equipment identical to those used in Cape Cod Bay since 1984 and summarized in Jaquet et al., (2006), Jaquet, et al., (2007) and evaluated by Johnson and Allen (2005) will include: 30 and 50 cm nets with 333 micrometer mesh and a ratio of 3:1 or 5:1 towed, tended with a nylon ½" line behind the research vessel. The sampling will usually be greater than 100 meters distant from the whales, in most cases fixed station sampling will exceed 2 km from whale aggregations. In special cases, usually less than 10 per year, tows will be taken behind the whale as it feeds or travels; in such cases sampling at the edge of the feeding cylinder (the imaginary cylinder of water passed through by the open mouth) will be conducted. In such cases, right whales will usually be 100 meters or more, from the nets with sampling at the edge of the “feeding cylinder” behind the whale as indicated by swirls. Regular zooplankton collections as described in Jaquet et al. (2007) will not be more than 5 minutes in duration. Collections once made are preserved using standard techniques (Johnson and Allen, 2005), with preservation in 10% formalin.
In order to sample the vertical characteristics of the zooplankton resource and oceanography an integrated hose and pump system will be used. In such cases a 1.5" hose will be hung from the vessel with the intake of which protected in a steel cage supporting with a CTD. During vertical sampling water will be pumped at 15 gallons / min into a metered zooplankton manifold collection system on deck. Pump sampling will be conducted in the regions where whales are aggregated, however such stations will usually be more than a kilometer from the whales. Nevertheless, occasionally whales approach the vessel, which is necessarily drifting with engine running – in such cases, if a close approach (e.g. less than 100 meters) is expected, the integrated unit will be retrieved. Variously within the individual two data sets, the following sampled variables are used to characterize patterns of habitat use and to forecast exposure of whales to anthropogenic risk:
• Zooplankton counted to lowest taxon (1984 to present over 17,000 samples to date; 23 taxa)
• CTD data to document basic oceanographic conditions
• Associated behavioral and distributional information that indicate the quality of the habitat and the patterns of habitat use
UAS SAMPLING
We request use of a UAS as was permitted under the preceding permit. A description of the operation, goals, and limits of the use of UAS follows:
We are requesting the use of UAS for 3 purposes: a) aerial photo identification of individual right whales, b) documentation of behavior, and c) imaging surface zooplankton.
The UAS will add to our capacity to achieve the listed research goals of the project by
1. permitting access to whales not otherwise accessible (e.g. whales close to beaches not immediately accessible to fixed wing aircraft or vessels)
2. reducing the disturbance (noise) to whales caused by the presence of the vessels and low-flying fixed-wing manned aircraft employed in our research
3. improving efficiency of behavior, individual ID, and plankton collection activities
4. reducing the cost of field research efforts
5. improving the safety profile of photo ID efforts (by reducing the time that the air survey crew needs to fly and circle at low altitude over the winter sea)
6. increasing the quality of behavior and photo ID information
A. Type of survey or sampling method
1. Opportunistic photo ID - We will use the UAS for opportunistic flights to photo ID whales within 1.5 km. of beaches around Cape Cod. Launch and landing would be from the beach and the flight would be directed to overfly and collect images for matching to catalogs. This use would (a) substantially simplify our field operations, permitting the collection of photos without having to deploy a vessel or fixed-wing aircraft, (b) increase efficiency, accuracy, and volume of data collection because UAS photos could be collected quickly, before whales disperse, (c) reduce the disturbance to whales from approaches by other platforms. We will also collect photos on an opportunistic basis from vessel-based launches when onboard photographers cannot document all of the right whales in the vicinity of the vessel.
2. Behavior Documentation - Behavior documentation will require the UAS to hover at an altitude of 15 – 75 m. recording video of whale orientation, speed, direction, and mouth orientation for our ongoing feeding studies. The effort will be to monitor such behavior to estimate the intake of zooplankton and to document changes in foraging behavior (and impact of such changes). Because of its reduced sound profile, the UAS will permit non-intrusive behavior documentation not possible from aircraft or vessels.
3. Zooplankton Imaging – The zooplankton imaging system, called ZCam, to be used with the UAS has been under development for use aboard the vessel (see above) but will not be used from either platform until the equipment meets the described requirements of this application and is capable of producing images usable for enumeration of zooplankton. For the feasibility studies involving zooplankton sampling by integrated ZCam/UAS system, we will not be working in the vicinity of right whales. In addition to the request for photoidentification and behavioral documentation by vessel-based UAS operations, we seek permission in this renewal request to sample near right whales if and when we demonstrate safety and feasibility of the method of sampling. Subject to feasibility studies and further UAS development, we will use UAS to collect zooplankton imaging from surface patches being foraged by right whales and may integrate photoidentification, behavior documentation, and ZCam imaging in each UAS mission. If feasible, the use of UAS from the research vessel will be undertaken in parallel with ongoing vessel-based zooplankton sampling, oceanographic data collection, and photo ID. When the ZCam imaging is demonstrated in laboratory and flight tests as feasible and successful (i.e. field trials of data collection and image processing demonstrate that zooplankton imaging is accurate and useful), UAS zooplankton sampling from the land will also be combined with photo ID and behavioral documentation during the same UAS missions. The application of the UAS for plankton collection will obviate the need to approach areas of right whale feeding aggregation by powered vessel and will permit sampling from the land. For both shore and vessel launched UAS ZCam sampling, UAS will fly to areas of feeding whales, or areas where whales had been present in the recent past, and after completing photoidentification and behavior documentation (described above) the UAS will approach feeding whales not closer than 50 meters (horizontally), landing on the water or hovering within 1 meter of the surface taking macro photos of zooplankton.
UASs have been deployed for similar tasks related to habitat monitoring, however the proposed method will represent a unique low disturbance and minimal noise application of the technology. The latest development in our laboratory favors the use of a Raspberry Pi controller a 13mp Arducam camera with control provided by a preloaded by a Python program. Zooplankton sampling locations using the ZCam will be set up during overflights of areas of zooplankton patches at 15 – 75 m altitude above the sea surface to visually assess and photograph surface-visible patches. Sampling locations will be chosen during assessment overflights as representative of the foraging area; at chosen locations the UAS will land on or hover above the surface for approximately 10 seconds during imaging of zooplankton using the ZCam, an Arducam on a computer cable connected to the smallest Raspberry Pi computer controlled by Python code (Figure 2). The cables will act as the tethers connecting the micro cameras to the Raspberry Pi Zero computer board carried in a case beneath the MA2 UAS. The tethers are 16.6 mm wide and <300 microns thick. The 15.2 cm tether will be tested with the MA2 landed on the water using standard pontoons and the 60.9 cm tether will be used in the preferred method, to dunk the ZCam in the water to a depth of 30 cm with the MA2 hovering at 30 cm above the surface. Because we will be sampling zooplankton in areas through which right whales have already passed, the UAS will not be in close proximity to feeding animals. When feasibility of UAS zooplankton sampling has been demonstrated operational sampling will concentrate on areas of surface feeding whales and surface landing or hovering will not take place closer than 50 meters from a whale. ZCam sampling flights will be monitored from the vessel by spotters, the permit PI, and the UAS pilot. During the period of surface patch formation right whales are surface feeders, virtually always visible to the observers monitoring and controlling the flight, thus it is highly unlikely that a monitored UAS sampling vehicle will represent an ingestion-risk to a feeding whale. Furthermore, the short and delicate nature of the cable tether, the 50 meter + operating distance, and the easily monitored behavior of foraging right whales make entanglement equally unlikely. Use of a UAS is also unlikely to pose a risk to another whale species feeding in the same area for many reasons not the least of which is that only a skimming Sei whale is found with skimming right whales and proper monitoring of skimming whales by trained observers and UAS pilot make ingestion a non-issue with trained observers communicating with the UAS pilot. Present imaging tests are very encouraging but we still undertake extensive field (>30 hrs.) of ZCam tests with no whales present.
B. Type of survey craft (e.g., fixed wing, vertical take-off and landing) and its payload components (i.e., what is the UAS carrying?):
The UASs being tested are small vertical takeoff and landing quadcopters that carry a high resolution still and video camera. The UAS will carry the standard sensors and software to permit forward, rear, and downward collision avoidance, home-return, transect and object following, and altitude stability and limitation. The most likely vehicle for the UAS studies is the DJI Mavic Air 2, a small, quiet, and stable UAS of the latest technology, satisfying our research needs for work with right whales. We presently favor the use a Mavic Air 2 that is both smaller, more stable, uses low noise propellers, and is even smaller and quieter than the previous generations of quadcopters. The only quadcopters, including the MA2, being considered for this project are identified as small UAS by the FAA. We will only use one UAS unit at a time over whales or zooplankton patches.
C. Minimum altitude:
1. Photo ID - For work over whales for photo I.D. we will operate at a minimum altitude of 15 m, however, depending on available lenses, we anticipate regular operations will work at an altitude between 15 – 75 m. Altitude will be established within a narrow range once all operational components have been defined.
2. Zooplankton imaging– The first efforts will be feasibility tests not involving whales; only if the collection methods and flight characteristics of the UAS have been demonstrated will we use in the region of whale activity be considered. When imaging, the UAS will land on the sea surface or hover 1 meter above the surface in calm conditions 50+ meters away from whales. In the imaging mode using ZCam the UAS will remain on or above the water surface for less than 10 seconds before taking off for another sample.
3. Behavior Documentation - UAS altitude for regular behavior documentation will be between 15 – 75+ m over areas where whales are feeding or in the general vicinity of the feeding region.
D. Number of passes per group/animal:
1. Photo ID - For photo ID we will pass over a whale and hover once in order to obtain usable photos. Once such photos have been obtained from the whale or a group no more passes will be needed.
2. Behavior Documentation - Behavioral documentation will require a maximum of 6 prolonged (15-20 min) hovering observations per single or group of whales (see E2).
3. Zooplankton sampling – UAS flight over an individual whale during the zooplankton patch assessment, preceding UAS zooplankton sampling, may involve passes over an individual. Passes over whales during actual zooplankton sampling will be incidental – one pass over an individual whale will likely be the maximum.
E. Time spent over each group/animal:
1. Photo ID - While whales are at the surface, we anticipate that we will require not more than 30 seconds of hovering in order to take the required images. If the whale dives the UAS will hover in place until the whale reaches the surface again. Depending on whale behavior and the nature of groupings, such photos may require hovering in the 15 – 75 m. altitude until all photos have been taken. If the whale is on a longer dive pattern hovering at 75 m. to reacquire the whale while the whale is deep diving may require up to 10 minutes before dropping to the photo altitude for 30 seconds.
2. Behavior Documentation – Time recording behavior will vary depending on the battery life of the quadcopter however we estimate 15-20 minutes per flight ( if the Mavic Air 2 with a battery life of 30+ minutes, we would anticipate duration up to 30 mins) for behavior recording with up to 6 flights per documentation period, all hovering as in C2 and D2 above. The result could be up to 2 hours of hovering and documentation per day per individual whale. Presently such long-duration work awaits the development of quick charge battery technology that will permit repeated flights needed for the preferred longer duration documentation. Because we are able to identify each individual whale in the field, we will not be documenting behavior of the same whale during subsequent long-duration flights.
3. Zooplankton imaging - Plankton imaging will not involve directed UAS flights over whales, however on some occasions the UAS may pass over whales to get to sampling locations, the duration of which pass will not exceed a few seconds.
F. Will the UAS ever be beyond the line of sight of the operator (pilot)? No.
G. Does the device have an auto-return feature if it fails? Yes
H. Describe the ground control station (where is it located: on shore or on a vessel?; how many stations?; how close will the station be to animals?
1. Photo ID - The station will be on the beach or a vessel 0.25 - 2 km from the whales and in all cases we will have at the station a minimum of 2 trained whale observers, plus the permit PI. The UAS operator/pilot will be stationed such that a full 360 view of the study area will be available. Additionally, an assistant spotter will work to assist the pilot and monitor incoming imagery.
2. Behavior Documentation - The station will be on the beach or a vessel 0.25 - 2 km from the whales and, in all cases, we will have at the station a minimum of 2 trained whale observers, plus the permit PI. The UAS operator/pilot will be stationed such that a full 360 view of the study area will be available. Additionally, an assistant spotter will work to assist the pilot and monitor incoming imagery.
3. Zooplankton sampling - The station will be on the beach or a vessel 0.25 - 2 km from the whales and in all cases we will have at the station a minimum of 2 trained whale observers, plus the permit PI. The UAS operator/pilot will be stationed such that a full 360 view of the study area will be available. Additionally, an assistant spotter will work to support the pilot and monitor incoming imagery.
I. Describe the spotter roles needed to achieve UAS research objectives (e.g., a spotter monitoring the craft, another for monitoring the ground control station?)
In all cases, the 2 observers will be spotters working with the pilot to assure direct intercept while the permit PI and the assistant spotter will monitor with binoculars the movement and activity of any whales beneath the UAS, the incoming data, imagery, and flight functions to assist and direct the pilot.
J. Battery life of UAS
The time varies as battery technology improves – at time of permit application max 30 mins. with present equipment (MA2). Further development of battery technology will likely extend the battery life.
K. Do you have the appropriate Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) permits/authorizations (including pilot licenses) for proposed research activities? The P4P and MA2 are registered with FAA and the pilot is Part 107 certified. We are in communication with the Provincetown Airport and able to obtain all necessary permissions on a flight-by-flight basis if necessary. We await permission from the National Park Service for landing and takeoff from their property.
SLOUGHED SKIN AND FECAL COLLECTION
Opportunistic collection of North Atlantic right whale fecal samples or sloughed skin may occur if samples are observed during vessel surveys. This sampling is non-invasive and does not require approaching animals directly, as the samples are left floating or drifting at the surface after the animal is gone. However, sampling takes place in the vicinity of whales, and occasionally within 100 yards, but no closer than 25 yards from a right whale. Samples will be collected from a stationary boat with a handheld mesh dipnet, which will be is cleaned between samples. This sampling will be done concurrent with other activities so that it will not add to the total encounter time. Samples may be analyzed at CCS, or would be sent to Co-Investigators and Authorized Recipients (to be determined at a later date) for analyses related to the objectives of our permit and to assist our collaborators in the NARW research community.
Status of Species:
The species directly affected is the North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis. Despite international protection from commercial hunting since 1935, the North Atlantic right whale is the most endangered large whale in the world. No more than 366 whales remain in the North Atlantic Ocean and the population trajectory has been negative since 2010 (North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, 2020; Pace et al, 2017; Pace, pers.com.). In the United States, the North Atlantic right whale is listed as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and in 2020 was listed in the IUCN Red List. The right whale's slow rate of population growth, currently approximately 2% per year since the 1980s (North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, 2020; Pace 2014, Knowlton et al. 1994), is of great concern. With on average 19 calves birthed per year (Kraus et al 2005, Pettis and Hamilton 2014, and New England Aquarium unpublished data [NEAq]) and recent data suggesting a decline in birthing and an increase in mortality. Analyses of data from the past two decades shows a decrease in the reproductive rate (fewer calves per mature female per year), an increase in the calving interval (Kraus et al. 2001; Kraus 2002), and a decline in the survival rate (Pace et al, 2017) suggesting that we should view the present situation with alarm. The apparent failure of this population to recover has been attributed to mortality from ship strike and entanglements (Kraus 1990; Kenney and Kraus 1993; Knowlton and Kraus 2001; Pace et al, 2017). |
