USFWS Incidental Harassment Authorization

The National Science Foundation and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the National Science Foundation (NSF/L-DEO) are authorized to take, by non-lethal Level B harassment, small numbers of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni: hereafter “sea otters”) during high-energy seismic surveys in the Northeast Pacific Ocean along the coast of Southeast Alaska. This Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) is valid between the date of issuance and December 31, 2021. It is issued by the Regional Director-Alaska Region, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in accordance with section 101(a)(5)(D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1371).