Last month, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority-led Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation (ECHO) Program celebrated its five years of collaboration and research to better understand the effects of marine shipping on at-risk whales.
The Port of Seattle, Port of Tacoma, Northwest Seaport Alliance, Washington State Ferries, NOAA, and the Puget Sound Partnership gathered along with experts and shipping stakeholders to address ways to reduce noise pollution in efforts to protect the endangered population of Southern Resident killer whales.
Collisions with ships and entanglements in fishing gear are two of the greatest threats for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whales, Oceana said, launching a new campaign in the US and Canada to address these issues and protect these marine mammals.
Data from the National Marine Fisheries Service present that the rate of whale entanglements in fishing year in the US West Coast has decreased by half in 2019, from 2018’s 40 incidents during January-August, to 18 incidents the same period this year.
Marc Garneau, the Canadian Minister of Transport, announced that Transport Canada is taking an important step in supporting the development of a new vessel design to decrease underwater noise, which will help in the recovery of Canada’s endangered, iconic whale populations.
A new model seeks to enable stakeholders to identify where endangered blue whales are most likely to be, so that ships can avoid hitting them. The research was published after relating the movements of more than 100 tagged blue whales to daily oceanographic conditions.
Scientists from the Benioff Ocean Initiative and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have created a a hydrophone (underwater microphone), in order to listen for whale traffic in the Santa Barbara Channel. With this technology, they aspire to prevent collisions between whales and boats.
Starting from 1st August and until 30 November 2019, the Panama Canal will implement speed limits aimed at protecting cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and other large aquatic mammals, during their nearby seasonal migration. As such, ships should proceed at a speed of not more than 10 knots in specified areas.
In this video, Long Gone Wild focuses on the plight of captive orcas, picking up where the acclaimed documentary Blackfish left off while telling a new and different story. The film was released on July 17, depicting the trade in wild-caught orcas, and focuses on the controversy regarding confining cetaceans in concrete tanks in marine theme parks.
The Government of Canada has introduced several measures to address risks endangered whales face by marine shipping and fishing activity. For this reason, Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, fined one vessel $6000 alleged non-compliance of a temporary mandatory speed restriction.
