Marine Resources Assessment for the Marianas Operating ... - SPREP

AUGUST 2005 FINAL REPORT
Appendix A-3. Overview of research efforts that provide occurrence information for marine
mammals and sea turtles in the Marianas MRA study area.
There have been few systematic efforts (i.e., aerial and boat-based surveys) to document marine
mammal and sea turtle occurrence around Guam and the CNMI. To determine seasonal or year-round
occurrence patterns, attempts were made to compile all available sighting, stranding, incidental fisheries
bycatch, tagging/marking, and nesting records for marine mammals and sea turtles in the study area. The
following is intended to be a comprehensive review of the various research efforts conducted and/or
sponsored by federal and territory/commonwealth agencies and other individuals/groups directed to the
protected marine mammal and sea turtle species in the study area and vicinity. For a variety of reasons, it
was not always possible to obtain every data source; only a subset of the available occurrence data for
this region is included in this MRA (Table A-1).
Protected species data sources included in this MRA
Sea Turtle Assessments
The CNMI DFW, in association with the NMFS, has performed nearshore assessments of sea turtles and
their habitats at three of the main islands of the CNMI: Saipan, Tinian, and Aguijan. The assessment at
Saipan was conducted from 15 to 29 August 1999, while the assessment at Tinian and Aguijan was
conducted from 12 to 21 March 2001. These assessments included both terrestrial and aquatic surveys.
At Saipan, surveys included infrequent surveys of beaches for nesting activity; marine tow, snorkel, and
shoreline surveys to record visual observations of sea turtles; a tag and release component; and
sampling of algae and seagrass species along established transects to identify potential green turtle
forage. The survey methodologies at Tinian and Aguijan were similar, but did not include surveys of
nesting beaches or tag and release efforts. In-water sighting data (including geographic coordinates,
dates, and species identifications) from these assessments are available from the following technical
reports: Kolinski et al. (1999) and Kolinski (2001).
In 2001, the CNMI DFW also performed a sea turtle assessment at Rota (Seman 2002); however, data
from those surveys were not available for inclusion in this report. The technical report for this assessment,
which was prepared for the CNMI DFW, possibly contains geographic coordinates and dates for each of
the recorded sea turtle sightings at Rota. This report is currently being requested from Dr. Steven
Kolinski, NMFS-Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO).
Marine and Fisheries Resource Assessments
In 1995, the CNMI DFW and the U.S. Navy agreed to perform biological surveys at FDM, which included
a marine survey (DoN 2004). An initial survey took place from 8 to 10 July 1997. It was later agreed that
annual marine surveys would be undertaken to determine if military training activities (e.g., bombing)
were causing significant impacts to the nearshore marine environment, including the fringing coral reef
community. A partnership for accomplishing the surveys was established among the Navy, NMFS,
USFWS, and CNMI DFW. The first set of surveys were conducted from 11 to 16 July 1999, the second
from 8 to 13 July 2000, the third from 8 to 13 July 2001, the fourth from 21 to 25 October 2002, the fifth
from 9 to 13 July 2003, and the most recent from 12 to 15 July 2004 (DoN 2005). These surveys included
low-altitude helicopter reconnaissance as well as in-water marine tow, snorkel, and scuba surveys around
the entire perimeter of the island. No threatened or endangered marine mammals were sighted during the
1997 or any of the annual 1999 through 2004 surveys (DoN 2005). Schools of spinner dolphins, which
are neither threatened nor endangered, were sighted twice during the 1999 survey and once during the
2001 survey; Trianni and Kessler (2002) provided details of the sightings. Green turtles have been
sighted during each annual survey at FDM, while hawksbill turtles were only sighted during the 2001 and
2004 surveys (DoN2005). The estimated sighting locations recorded during these marine surveys were
available from the following reports: Trianni (1998, 1999) and DoN (2001, 2003, 2004, 2005).