Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revision of Critical Habitat for the Southern Resident Killer Whale Distinct Population Segment

Issuing agencies

Abstract

We, NMFS, issue a final rule to revise the critical habitat designation for the Southern Resident killer whale (Orcinus orca) distinct population segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by designating six additional coastal critical habitat areas along the U.S. West Coast. Specific newly designated areas along the U.S. West Coast include 15,910 square miles (mi\2\) (41,207 square kilometers (km\2\)) of marine waters between the 20-feet (ft) (6.1- meter (m)) depth contour and the 656.2-ft (200-m) depth contour from the U.S. international border with Canada south to Point Sur, California. We have excluded one area, the Quinault Range Site (including a 10-km buffer around a portion of the site), comprising 1,400.4 mi\2\ (3627 km\2\), from the critical habitat designation because we have determined that the benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of inclusion, and exclusion will not result in extinction of the species.