STATEMENT OF WORK -Q0006-ATCH 01.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of Protected Resources (OPR) Vessel Charter for Surface Satellite Drifter Deployments in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

I. Background/Overview

This request is for a vessel charter to support the DWH Sea Turtle Early Restoration Project. The contractor will provide a vessel, captain and crew necessary to deploy satellite surface drifters to study sea turtle carcass drift patterns in the northern Gulf of Mexico offshore (>3 miles) from Venice, LA and Chandeleur Island, LA.

Strandings of sea turtles have been documented during spring months on coastal Mississippi since 2010.

Necropsy findings suggest that many of these turtles die due to forced submergence, but the sources of this mortality have not yet been identified. A backcast model (BAMM) was developed by combining data from satellite tracked sea turtle carcasses, surface drifters, decomposition studies, and oceanographic models to help identify likely hotspots for this mortality. However, questions persist related to the resolution of the oceanographic model used in and resulting output from BAMM and ultimately the origin of sea turtle mortality.

This project builds upon these previous studies and will deploy surface drifting satellite tags prior to the initial pulse of springtime strandings to study carcass drift patterns in real-time and evaluate the performance of BAMM to aid our ongoing investigation of sea turtle mortality in this region.

II. Scope of Work

NOAA Fisheries is requesting a vessel charter to deploy satellite surface drifters in the northern Gulf of Mexico offshore (>3 miles) from Venice, LA and Chandeleur Island, LA. The deployment of drifters is needed to study sea turtle carcass drift patterns in real-time and help identify the location of mortality. The vessel deployments will also address questions related to the performance of a backcast model (BAMM) and allow for evaluation of the model’s accuracy.

III. Tasks

The selected contractor(s) shall provide the following vessel charter services:

● The contractor shall provide a vessel that meets NOAA standards for charter vessel utilization described here: https://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/headquarters/safety-environmental-compliance/vessel-chartering-info

● The vessel charter shall travel from departure site to two areas of interest, one approximately 20 miles east of the northern tip of Chandeleur Island, LA and the other approximately 15-20 miles east from Venice, LA.

● At each of these 2 areas of interest, surface satellite drifters will be deployed at 4 locations, with each drop location separated by approximately 5-10 miles, for a total of 8 locations where drifters will be deployed.

● Two surface satellite drifters will be deployed at each drop location, for a total of 16 drifters deployed each week across both areas of interest.

● Efforts should be made to accomplish all deployments at both areas of interest within a single day per week (considered a “full” contract day). However, circumstances may only allow the vessel charter to visit one area of interest in a given day (considered a “partial” contract day), requiring two partial days to complete all deployments for a given week.

● Deployments may begin in the last week of February 25-March 2, and continue weekly through the week of March 24-30 for a total of 5 full contract days if both areas of interest are visited on the same day. If it is not possible to complete deployments for both areas in the same day, then up to 10 partial contract days may be required to complete all deployments in this study period.

https://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/headquarters/safety-environmental-compliance/vessel-chartering-info https://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/headquarters/safety-environmental-compliance/vessel-chartering-info

● The contractor(s) will communicate with NOAA Fisheries staff regarding days suitable for deployment depending on weather. Weekly deployment for each area of interest is critical, though specific dates for deployment are flexible. However, a minimum of three days and maximum of 7 days between deployments is required.

● NOAA Fisheries staff will be responsible for coordinating delivery of the wooden blocks with attached satellite drifters to the selected contractor(s) prior to the vessel’s departure for deployment.

● The completion of work for the vessel charter will be defined by the weekly deployment of all tags at each area of interest (16 tags each week) occurring over 5 full contract days, or up to 10 partial contract days over the period of performance.

IV. Period of Performance

The vessel charter will deploy surface satellite drifters every week at each of the 2 areas of interest, requiring a total of 5 full or up to 10 partial contract days of work during the window for operations from February 20, 2024 to April 4, 2024. Contractor must confirm complete availability during this period. Contractor may propose a start day within 2 days of the Period of Performance to align with vessel availability.

V. Place of Performance

The vessel charter will deploy surface satellite drifters at 8 locations in 2 areas of interest in offshore (>3 miles) areas of the northern Gulf of Mexico, one area off Chandeleur Island, LA and the other off Venice, LA. The vessel charter shall depart and return at the Contractor’s facility/standard dockage.

VI. Deliverable Schedule

● The vessel charter shall deploy surface satellite drifters weekly at each of 2 areas of interest for a total of 5 full or up to 10 partial contract days between February 20, 2024 and April 4, 2024. Successful deployments are defined as each drifter being placed into the water to float and the satellite tag logging drift, as determined by observation of the tag’s location via online portal used by NOAA Fisheries.

● If all deployments at both areas of interest are not accomplished in a single full contract day, then deployments may be broken into two partial contract days per week.

● The vessel charter captain and/or crew will be required to record basic information on environmental conditions and time of release for all surface satellite drifters. This information will be recorded on a simple datasheet that will be provided by NOAA Fisheries staff.

● NOAA Fisheries staff will be responsible for delivering the required number of surface satellite drifters to the vessel charter prior to departure for deployments each week.

VII. Government-Furnished Resources

● NOAA Fisheries will provide all surface satellite drifters, sealed and ready to release from the vessel charter, as well as all datasheets for recording release times and environmental conditions for the drifters.

● NOAA Fisheries will provide an overview of the work anticipated and define deployment protocols for the captain and crew.

● NOAA Fisheries staff will consult with the vessel charter captain regarding deployment schedule each week prior to deployments.

VIII. Special Requirements

Required documentation to accompany all quotes, as available/applicable:

● International Maritime Organization (IMO) Vessel Number

● Copy of a US Coast Guard (USCG) Letter of Designation for the charter vessel

● Copy of a USCG Certificate of Inspection for the charter vessel

● Copy of Merchant Mariner Credentials for the Master and any additional operators

● Copy of USCG Uninspected Passenger Vessel Examination for charter vessel

● Copy of USCG Certificate of Documentation with a coastwise endorsement

● Copy of Letter of Designation as an Oceanographic Research Vessel issued by USCG

● If vessel is uninspected, a list of lifesaving appliances carried onboard (number of Type-1 lifejackets, life rafts, life rings, flares, etc…)

● A vessel charter and crew capable of and experienced with traversing offshore waters (>3 miles) in potentially rough (3-5ft seas) waters and covering distances of at least 25-30 miles.

● Sufficient covered deck space to store 16 surface drifters (wooden drifter 11” x 11” x 4.5” and small spot tag 2” x 3” x 1” satellite tag in a small plastic jar) out of direct sunlight if stored for a prolonged period of time.

● The vessel shall be equipped with the following:

○ GPS vessel positioning unit

○ Fathometer

○ Radar

○ Computer navigation system

a. Confidentiality and Data Privacy

Does not apply

b. Intellectual Property Rights

All deliverables generated by this work are considered the property of the U.S. Government. This includes all satellite tags and surface drifters, materials required to construct the surface drifters, documents, datasheets, files (including digital), reports, notes and photos used or generated by contracted personnel. Copies of any documents or files are not to be disseminated to anyone outside of NOAA without explicit release from NOAA.

c. Section 508 Compliance Does not apply

d. Environmental Compliance-Best Management Practices (EC-BMP)

To minimize potential environmental impacts under this Contract, the Contractor shall implement the following for all deployment fieldwork:

● Use a designated lookout to spot marine mammals and endangered species and maintain safe distances from them while the vessel is underway to avoid harassing or harming the species.

● If a marine mammal or endangered species is within 100 meters of the intended deployment location as the vessel is approaching, the deployment location will be relocated to maintain a 100m buffer distance from the animals.

● If a marine mammal or endangered species approaches within 45 meters of the vessel after stopping to deploy a satellite drifter, the vessel will wait until after the animals have voluntarily moved out of the area before departing.

● If departure is going to be delayed by more than 1 hour due to marine mammal or endangered species presence within 100m of the work area, the contractor should contact the COR and request additional time.

IX. Required Knowledge and Experience

● The contracted captain and crew should have ample experience in vessel operation in rough weather and sea state conditions that are typical to the northern Gulf of Mexico during the period of performance.

● Captain and crew should be knowledgeable and familiar with navigating the offshore (>3 miles) waters near Chandeleur Island and Venice, LA.