Chapter 13 - Marine Mammals

13.2.6 Environmental Design, Mitigation, and Optimization

The following is a list of environmental design and mitigation features specific to marine mammals:

site personnel will be directed in proper procedures for managing encounters with marine mammals so as to reduce disturbances;

the shipping route will have appropriate levels of traffic control and navigational aids to ensure safe passage, which will reduce the risk of an accidental event affecting marine mammals; and

a marine mammal survey of Edward's Cove will be conducted prior to construction blasting at the port site during periods of mammal abundance in Edward's Cove.

13.3 Residual Environmental Effects

The definitions for the rating of residual environmental effects significance follow:

A major (significant) residual environmental effect is one affecting a whole stock or population of a species within the Marine Mammal Assessment Area in such a way as to cause a change in abundance and/or change in distribution beyond which natural recruitment (reproduction and immigration from unaffected areas) would not return that population, or any populations or species dependent upon it, to its former level within several generations.

A moderate (significant) residual environmental effect is one affecting a portion of a population within the Marine Mammal Assessment Area that results in a change in abundance and/or distribution over one or more generations of that portion of the population, or any populations or species dependent upon it, but does not change the integrity of any population as a whole; it may be localized.

A minor (not significant) residual environmental effect is affecting a specific group of individuals in a population within the Marine Mammal Assessment Area, at a localized area and/or over a short period (one generation or less), but not affecting other trophic levels or the integrity of the population itself.

A negligible (not significant) residual environmental effect is one affecting the population or a specific group of individuals within the Marine Mammal Assessment Area, at a localized area and/or over a short period in such a way as to be similar in effect to small random changes in the population due to natural variations, but having no measurable effect on the population as a whole.

The residual environmental effects remaining after the application of mitigation, and including consideration of cumulative environmental effects, are presented in Table 13.3.

Table 13.3 Summary of Residual Environmental Effects

Project Phase	Residual Environmental Effect	Significance	Likelihood ^a	Sustainable Use (Capacity) of Renewable Resources^a
Construction	noise disturbance ice breaking	minor (not significant)	n/a	n/a
Operation	noise disturbance, ice breaking	minor (not significant)	n/a	n/a
Decommissioning	noise disturbance	negligible (not significant)	n/a	n/a
accidental events	bioaccumulation of metals and/or oil spill	minor (not significant)	n/a	n/a

^a likelihood and sustainable use of renewable resources are only defined for environmental effects that are significant (moderate or major) (CEAA 1994: 84, 187).
"n/a" not applicable

13.3.1 Construction

Potential adverse environmental effects during construction are increased exposure of marine mammals to various sources of noise. These interactions will have minor (not significant) residual environmental effects due to the small spatial (along shipping route and nearshore in Edward's Cove during construction) and temporal exposure to marine mammal populations. Hearing damage in seals is only possible if they occur within 100 m of the ship. However, seals within 500-700 m may exhibit temporary avoidance behaviour (Davis and Malme 1997) and therefore experience no adverse effects.

13.3.2 Operation

Potential adverse environmental effects during operation will principally be from ice breaking, which will have a minor (not significant) residual environmental effect, due to the small spatial (along the shipping route and nearshore in Edward's Cove) exposure experienced by a specific group of individuals from a population occurring in the Assessment Area over a short period of time. For example, the number of seal pups along the proposed shipping route is small in proportion to the population (JWEL 1997). Mammals are expected to exhibit temporary avoidance behaviour wherever the environment is unsuitable to them (i.e., shipping route and point of effluent discharge). Overall, operation of the Project is predicted to have a minor (not significant) residual environmental effect.

13.3.3 Decommissioning

Potential adverse environmental effects during decommissioning are similar to, but greatly reduced compared with those during construction. Land-based activity will generate noise from air and sea traffic. These interactions will have negligible (not significant) residual environmental effects due to the limited spatial (along shipping route and nearshore in Edward's Cove from construction) and temporal extent of exposure to marine mammal populations.

13.3.4 Post-Decommissioning

After the Project has been decommissioned, marine mammals will no longer experience any environmental effects from Project activities.

13.3.5 Accidental Events

In the event of an accidental oil spill, there is potential for oiling of marine mammals and a localized reduction in food supply. These events are considered minor (not significant) residual environmental effects, considering a marine mammal's continued ability to thermoregulate in the summer and the localized nature of an oil spill in the winter. Furthermore, the halt in shipping will greatly reduce the likelihood of interaction with seal pups. The number of marine mammals of any species affected by an oil spill will be a small portion of the population, and any effect would be for less than one generation. The environmental effects of a concentrate spill would be localized and any accumulation of metals in mammals would not have a deleterious biological effect.

13.3.6 Follow-up Program

There are no compliance monitoring requirements for marine mammals. The process for follow-up is outlined in Chapter 4.

13.4 References

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Personal Communications

Béland, P. Pierre Béland Enterprises Inc., Montréal, PQ.

Appendix 13A

Environmental Effects Assessment Synthesis: Marine Mammals

Appendix 13B

Marine Mammals Incidental Sightings 1996