Navy Fleet Testing and Training Activities offshore of Padre Island National Seashore
January 7, 2016
Todd Kraft
Department of the Navy
ATTN: AFTT EIS/OEIS PM—Code EV22LDN
6506 Hampton Blvd
Norfolk, VA 23508-1278
Dear Mr. Kraft:
The Sierra Club has long been an advocate for the Sea Turtle Science and Recovery Project at Padre Island Nation Seashore. The Kemp’s ridley, the smallest and most critically endangered of sea turtles, has been the focus of Dr. Donna Shaver, head of that project, for many years. Thanks to the dedication of people involved in this project, the numbers of these turtles have increased significantly in the Gulf of Mexico off Padre Island, their historic and most important United States nesting site.
Any Navy Fleet Training and Testing Program, however important, should take into consideration protection of these critically endangered turtles, as well as all other marine life in the Gulf, and diligently pursue all measures to see that their well-being is a primary consideration.
Toward that end, we urge you to take into account the nesting season of these turtles, as does the shrimping industry, by observing a closure from December 1 through July 15 every year. Such a closure off Padre Island would protect sea turtles which mate in nearby waters and nest on the Island during much of their nesting season.
Further, we urge you to mandate an acoustic exclusion zone with a 200m radius around the sound source and provide visual monitoring by trained Protected Species Observers (PSOs).
We are also concerned that inadvertent injury to sea turtles is a real possibility during shipboard surveys, etc., and trust that any such activities will also be visually monitored by PSOs.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities offshore of Padre Island National Seashore. The Sierra Club looks forward to a cordial relationship with the Navy should this project become a reality.
Venice Scheurich, Conservation Chair
Coastal Bend Sierra Club Group