||| FROM KING-TV |||
Today, the leading cause of death in whales is due to collisions with large vessels. A study led by researchers at the University of Washington found that introducing regulations in very select places could have a major impact on whale mortality.
Global data on whale and ship collisions is hard to come by, so a team led by University of Washington researchers set to work on quantifying the risk for whale-ship collisions for four species of whale: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales.
The team found that 92% of whale habitat overlaps with global shipping routes, meaning there are very few places where the creatures can go that they are safe from vessels. This number is likely to increase as global shipping grows, said the study, which was published Nov. 21 in the journal Science.
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Too bad we can’tt get WA and BC to agree to a MANDATORY (not voluntary) slowdown of ocean-going vessels traversing the Salish Sea.
Or can we?
NOAA already regulates large vessel speed in select high-traffic areas designated “seasonal migration areas” along the US east coast to protect right whales. 10 knots or less for any vessel larger than 65 feet. If the US led the way, BC would likely follow.
See https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/reducing-vessel-strikes-north-atlantic-right-whales.
The whales most commonly observed in the Salish Sea are orcas, humpbacks, with occasional gray’s. This world wide study included four whales species, three of which (blue, fin, sperm) are rarely if ever found in the Salish Sea.
World maps of whale observations and migration routes are virtually useless as the Salish Sea is but a minuscule dot on a world map.
Actual ship strikes are not recorded … the supplemental material provides the methodology and is theoretical. That’s not to say it’s not ballpark accurate … actual ship strikes are mostly impossible to observe and record.
The maps make it clear the most problematical whale strike areas are the Mediterranean Sea and around the major shipping port in China.
Data related to ship/whale strikes in the Salish Sea would be logical and necessary before any international ship speed regulatory action should be undertaken in the Salish Sea. It’s my observation that ships and ferries try to avoid whales when they are visible in Washington inland waters, and British Columbia has vessel no-go orca protection zones with significant fines for vessels that violate those orca protection zones.
I like your recommendation for a measured approach to regulation. Federal administrative law mandates no less.
My counter to that is one dead whale – J34.
We don’t have a lot of extra SRKWs to sacrifice to provide more data points for analysis.
Slowing vessel traffic by half would reduce both fuel consumption and air pollution. On the downside, Walmart goods and Chinese EVs will take an extra day or so unload.
That is completely OK with me.
Whale strikes don’t just happen in the Mediterranean and China. They happen closer to home and potentially more often than we fully understand given they aren’t necessarily recorded. I applaud UW for studying the potential problems of whale collisions that should give us better guidance in our area. We may have more to learn.
In 2001 I was working in Glacier Bay for USGS and asked by NPS to dive off a dead humpback whale suspected of a vessel collision. My coworker and I made the dive at night before the whale would be brought to shore for a necropsy. We were instructed to take video for possible evidence not knowing what they’d find the following day. In the dark it was hard to imagine we weren’t just diving near a ledge and not a whale. We moved along the whale before spotting its lifeless eye just staring off into nothing. I still remember this moment clearly and the sense of loss I instantly felt. I was in arms reach from this amazing humpback which should have been exciting but was instead an eerily-quiet moment in a dark ocean usually filled with whale song. Very sad.
A necropsy the next day confirmed that the whale (“Snow”) was hit by a cruise ship and sadly pregnant at the time. Three years later another whale was struck and killed. And then there were more. NPS started putting observers on cruise ships and we’ll finally see how common or uncommon they are (see https://alaskapublic.org/2019/12/02/researchers-marine-pilots-work-to-prevent-vessel-strikes-from-killing-alaska-whales/).
So, just because you’ve observed ships and ferries avoiding whales in the Salish Sea doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t any problems or potential for more collisions with increased vessel traffic. And with endangered whales, how many losses should we study before following guidance from outside our local area? I’d hope we would be more conservative with our regulations if only to save one whale’s life, or two in the case of Snow’s collision.
Another aspect to his problem is the assumption that (1) someone sentient is keeping watch on the bridge of these massive vessels, which largely operate on autopilot with foreign crews, (2) that they would be able to maneuver in time to avoid a whale strike, and (3) they would even bother to do so.
I spent quite a bit of time competitive sailing in Puget Sound. I have personally witnessed a massive container ship nearly run down a couple of raceboats who were more focused on racing than compliance with the Navigation Rules. It can be quite challenging to solve the time/speed/distance/angle of approach problem in one’s head while distracted by competition. These behemoths cannot stop for miles and are themselves restricted in their ability to maneuver by the Vessel Separation regulations.