Orcas and Nantucket Islands are each roughly the same size and the same distance off their respective coasts. We share the same concerns about the high cost of living, lack of affordable housing, tourist management, ferry problems and environmental degradation. We are living on opposite ends of the country but many of the issues and opportunities are the same. Recently theOrcasonian and the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror decided to share articles of mutual interest with our readers.
||| FROM NANTUCKET INQUIRER AND MIRROR |||
Proposed vessel speed restrictions for right whale protection that would be devastating to the island’s ferry service appear to be gaining momentum at the federal level, town manager Libby Gibson told the Select Board Wednesday.
A concerted effort is needed to make it clear to federal regulators the impact it would have on the island, and to request an exemption for Nantucket Sound, she said.
“Early on when this was proposed, most people here thought it was not anything to be overly concerned about because it wasn’t going to happen because of how clearly devastating it would be to the island,” she said.
“But it seems as though it may be gaining some momentum, so we need to get active on it.”
Steamship Authority chief executive officer Robert Davis said the regulations would cripple the boat line’s ability to service the island as it does now. It would negate all fast ferry service from Nov. 1 through May 30, and add 30 minutes to slow-boat trips, which in turn would only allow for two round trips per day instead of three.
“We bring the necessities of life, food, fuel, medicine to the island,” he said. “Also there’s a social aspect of this, people commuting to work, off-island medical appointments, school trips and sports games would all be drastically affected.”
The board voted unanimously to request a consultation with the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is currently reviewing the proposed restrictions, and request an exemption for Nantucket Sound.
Davis said in the last 22 years there have been no right whales spotted on any Steamship Authority trips, despite a number of other types of whales being seen.
“That’s over half a million trips, and there are no right whale sightings in Nantucket Sound on NOAA’s site either,” he said. “Long Island Sound is exempt, so why not Nantucket Sound?”
Davis said the Steamship Authority has also requested a consultation with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to lobby for an exemption for Nantucket Sound.
The regulations were first proposed in 2022 by NOAA for large portions of the East Coast, in order to protect the critically endangered right whale. They call for a speed restriction of 10 knots or less for vessels over 35 feet from Nov. 1 through May 30.
The competition between Nature and the economy is deep and broad. In the short term, the economy usually wins. In the long term …?
A solution in search of a problem.
In the long term, nature usually loses. In the longer term, so does the economy.
Forward scanning sonar is not that expensive. Why don’t they let the ferries go at their preferred speeds with whale detection equipment? This does not address the sound issue, of course, which is more the point in the Salish Sea.