[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 14, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 49479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19702]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC614


Marine Mammals; File No. 17996

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a permit has been issued to 
Silverback Films Ltd, 59 Cotham Hill, Cotham, Bristol, BS6 6JR, United 
Kingdom, to conduct commercial or educational photography of bottlenose 
dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

ADDRESSES: The permit and related documents are available for review 
upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:
    Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; 
phone (301) 427-8401; fax (301) 713-0376; and
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL 
33701; phone (727) 824-5312; fax (727) 824-5309.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rosa L. Gonz[aacute]lez or Kristy 
Beard, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 12, 2013, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (78 FR 21915) that a request for a permit to 
conduct commercial/educational photography had been submitted by the 
above-named applicant. The requested permit has been issued under the 
authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 
U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the regulations governing the taking and 
importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216).
    Permit No. 17996 authorizes a commercial photography/filming 
project to film bottlenose dolphin strand-feeding events in the 
estuaries and creeks of Bull Creek and around Hilton Head, South 
Carolina. Filming would be conducted from a small boat and from a 
helicopter. A maximum of 500 dolphins, annually, would be approached. 
Filming would occur over one (or two if needed) sessions of three to 
four weeks each and be completed by October 2014. Footage would be used 
in a seven-part television series, The Hunt, an educational series on 
predation strategy and predator-prey dynamics for the British 
Broadcasting Company. The permit expires on October 31, 2014.
    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final determination has been made that the 
activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to 
prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

    Dated: August 9, 2013.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-19702 Filed 8-13-13; 8:45 am]
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