Environmental assessment for issuance of a permit amendment to conduct research on captive and rehabilitating threatened and endangered marine mammals (permit no. 13602-01) Issuance of a permit amendment to conduct research on captive and rehabilitating threatened and endangered marine mammals (permit no. 13602-01)

"The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to issue an amendment to scientific research Permit No. 13602 for takes of marine mammals in captivity, pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ... as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The permit amendment would authorize opportunistic energetic assessments on ESA-listed marine mammals under NMFS jurisdiction that have stranded and are undergoing rehabilitation in California using methods currently approved in Permit No. 13602 for non-listed species. The permit holder also proposes to conduct physiological research on permanently captive Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi) in facilities in the U.S. The applicant requests the transfer and use of tissues (brain and skeletal muscle) from ESA-listed marine mammal species for assessment of oxygen stores and aerobic dive limits. The amendment is requested for the duration of the permit, which expires in September 2014"--Abstract.