Free Declaration in Support - District Court of California - California

Case 3:07-cv-04771-EDL

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RONALD J. TENPAS Acting Assistant Attorney General Environment and Natural Resources Division UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE JEAN E. WILLIAMS, Chief KRISTEN L. GUSTAFSON, Senior Trial Attorney Wildlife and Marine Resources Section GUILLERMO MONTERO, Trial Attorney Natural Resources Section Environment & Natural Resources Division UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Benjamin Franklin Station - P.O. Box 7369/ P.O. Box 663 Washington, D.C. 20044 (202) 305-0211 (tel.) / (202) 305-0443 (tel.) (202) 305-0275 (fax) / (202) 305-0274 (fax) [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for Federal Defendants

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, ) INC., et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) Civ. Action No. 07-4771-EDL ) ) ) DECLARATION OF CARLOS M. GUTIERREZ, SECRETARY OF ) BRANDON SOUTHALL, PH.D. THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ) COMMERCE, et al. ) ) Federal Defendants. ) )

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I, BRANDON SOUTHALL, declare that the following is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, 1. I am qualified to testify as to the technical issues regarding marine mammals and

the various effects of active sound exposure on their hearing and behavior. I received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Biology and English from the University of Montana in 1994, completing my undergraduate thesis research on acoustic communication in marine mammals. I received a Master's of Science degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) in 1998 on the effects of noise interference on hearing in several marine mammal species. I received a Ph.D. from UCSC in 2002 and I continue to conduct research in association with that institution. My research includes measuring how noise interferes with hearing both simultaneously (masking) and residually (temporary threshold shift, or TTS), measuring natural communication signals, direct measurements of marine mammal behavioral and hearing responses to sound exposure, and the integration of lab and field data to comparatively understand noise impacts on marine mammals using scientific methodology. 2. I have been affiliated with NOAA's Ocean Acoustics Program for four years. My

responsibilities are largely as a program manager and technical advisor to the agency, including its component organization, the National Marine Fisheries Service ("NMFS"), on a wide range of sound sources (including active sonar) and their potential impacts on marine mammals. In total, I have approximately 15 years of experience in marine mammal acoustics issues in various capacities, including empirical measurements of hearing and the effects of noise on marine mammals, the publication of over 20 peer-reviewed papers on these issues, and the direction of scientific research and policy-development on these issues. 3. I am the principal investigator of a series of multi-disciplinary, multi-

organizational behavioral response studies (BRS) being conducted to investigate the reactions of
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several cetacean species to various kinds of sound exposure. NOAA's Office of Science and Technology is the signatory holder of the U.S. permit for this research (U.S. National Marine Fisheries research permit # 1121-1900) and, as director of NOAA's Ocean Acoustics Program situated within that office, I am the designated principal investigator. This research is being conducted by researchers from many academic and private organizations and is being funded by various programs within the U.S. Department of Defense as well as a consortium of oil companies. 4. The experimental design of the BRS is predicated on the observation that, under

certain circumstances and conditions, marine mammals, in particular several species of deepdiving beaked whales, have exhibited strong and occasionally fatal responses to sound exposure, usually tactical mid-frequency sonar. Consequently, the BRS is intended to begin empirically identifying the underlying behavioral mechanisms that may play some role in these unintended consequences. Animals are identified at depth using the real-time hydrophone array capabilities of the Atlantic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas, following which they are tagged with specialized acoustic sensors. Then, following very specific and protective protocols being implemented to ensure that only relatively low-level responses are observed rather than those that would lead to stranding, sound exposures of various types are presented to the animals. The primary interest is in mid-frequency sonar signals, but the BRS team is also using natural sounds that may also evoke strong responses (i.e., killer whale sounds), and other "control" stimuli that are not expected to induce severe reactions (such as bands of noise). 5. I have reviewed the declaration of Dr. Peter Tyack and concur with his general

assessment of the need for and intent of the BRS effort.

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Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I hereby declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. If called as a witness, I could and would testify competently to the statements contained herein.

Executed this 15th day of November, 2007, at Silver Spring, Maryland

By: BRANDON L. SOUTHALL Fisheries Biologist, Ocean Acoustics Program National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Science and Technology Marine Ecosystems Division

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