NOAA issues IHA for Shell overflights

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service has issued an incidental harassment authorization, allowing the unintended, minor disturbance of marine mammals by overflights of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas that Shell plans to conduct this year in conjunction with its Chukchi Sea drilling program. According to a Federal Register notice for the issuance of the authorization, Shell wants to use overflights to conduct surveys of the sea-ice break up at the beginning of the open water season and of the freeze up at the end of the season. The company plans to use fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, with the timing of the surveys depending on ice and weather conditions, the notice says.

The Fisheries Service requires measures designed to mitigate disturbance caused by the overflights, including a requirement for a protected species observer to participate in each flight; the maintenance of a one-mile radius from areas with high seal concentrations; and engagement with local communities to avoid disturbance to subsistence activities.

- Alan Bailey