offer the following as reasonable and prudent alternatives that the
NPS should institute in Glacier Bay to avoid jeopardizing the
continued existence of the North Pacific population of humpback
whales:
We recommend that total vessel use of the Bay be restricted to 1976
levels, at the very least, since that year preceeded the high point of
visitor use in Glacier Bay during 1977. Commercial use of the Bay is
predicated on a permit system that should offer good control and
accountability of the tour industry. The routing of large vessels is
relatively easy to regulate. Recreational craft present the greater
challenge to management control. The continuing increase in the amount
of recreational traffic in the Bay lends considerable urgency to
establishing effective controls.
Collectively, regulations should address vessel routing and vessel
maneuvering. The NPS has already regulated these activities to some
extent. Specific routes should be published, but the system should be
flexible enough to accommodate changes of areas of concentrated
feeding activity.
We further recommend curtailment of vessel operator discretion in
pursuing, or approaching, whales. General guidelines prohibiting the
pursuit or willful or persistent disturbance of whales through vessel
maneuvering probably would offer better enforceability and public
compliance than would detailed regulations based on specified
distances. Vessel operator behavior should receive a thorough public
educational effort, possibly through an informative notice to each
vessel.
Finally, we recommend that monitoring of the humpback population and
of whale-vessel interactions be continued and that all current data be
fully analyzed. New research should also be undertaken (1) to
characterize the food and feeding behavior of humpback whales in
Glacier Bay and other areas; (2) to ascertain the acoustic
characteristics of vessels within the Bay and in other areas with the
aim of identifying equipment and/or modes of operation which are
inimical to the whales; and (3) to compare behavioral responses of the
humpbacks to vessels in Glacier Bay with those observed in other areas
of southeastern Alaska.
The conclusions and recommendations stated herein constitute our
biological opinion, and we consider consultation on this matter to be
at an end. Should significant new information or factors not
considered in this opinion arise, however, either we or NPS are
obligated to reinitiate consultation.
Sincerely yours,
[signature]
Terry L. Leitzell
Assistant Administrator
for Fisheries
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Transcriber's Notes
The text herein presented is essentially that in the original report.
To preserve continuity, some text was moved to rejoin text which had
been split by Figures or Tables. Footnotes were moved to the end of
the section in which they occur. To help distinguish them from text
body footnotes, Table footnotes were changed from numbers to lower
alpha characters. Three typos were corrected (see below). In order to
present some of the tables in the allotted 70 character width, some of
the text was rearranged.
Emphasis Notation:
_Text_ -- italicized
=Text= -- underlined
The original report appears to have been a typewritten document and
species names were underlined instead of italicized as is usually the
case. Some other text is also underlined, the assumption was made that
the text would have been underlined (and/or bold).
Typographical Corrections
Page 11 (TABLE 4.): visable => visible
Page 25 (Item 1.): move- => movement
Page 33 (3rd Item): Wildlive => Wildlife
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