Tag: whales

Under its commitment in reducing underwater noise, the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, requested all vessels transiting Haro Strait to reduce their speed to 11 knots (speed through the water) between Discovery Island at the southern end, and Henry Island at the northern end, starting from August 7 to October 6, 2017.

Canada's centres of Network of Excellence announced the launch of a homegrown technology, that can monitor underwater noise, in order to protect endangered marine life. An underwater listening station was installed on ONC’s observatory network, to monitor the acoustic source levels of incoming ships to the Port of Vancouver and to monitor in real-time for the presence of calling marine mammals.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare urges shipping industry for more attention on the critical issues concerning marine mammals, like underwater noise pollution and ship strikes. IFAW also encourages industry to follow the example of these companies which have already taken speed restriction seriously with remarkable results, such as COSCO and MSC.

A new WWF-Canada guide, aiming to help mariners in the Hudson Strait to identify and avoid marine mammals, is being unveiled at a Canadian Coast Guard and Transport Canada meeting in Montreal. The Hudson Strait Mariner’s Guide is made up of two large posters to be hung on the ship’s bridge: a chart that will help mariners identify mammals and maps of marine mammal habitat in both summer and winter.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration signed an agreement with the government of The Netherlands adding a network of marine protected areas from New England to the Caribbean Sea and providing refuge for North Atlantic humpback whales at both ends of their 3,000-mile annual migration.

Marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, are impacted by underwater noise. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is taking the lead in promoting quieter ships – with an innovative incentive program, Rachel Carmichael, DNV GL, explains.

As ship strikes, vessel disturbance and underwater noise are key threats faced by whales, dolphins and porpoises off British Columbia’s coast, the Vancouver Aquarium’s Coastal Ocean Research Institute, in partnership with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the Prince Rupert Port Authority, published a new guide for mariners, intended to inform them about the risk of collisions between vessels and marine life and to help minimize vessel disturbances.

Evergreen Line received recognition for its performance in a voluntary environmental and ecological protection program. The initiative was aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions of vessels and avoiding whale collisions by encouraging slow sailing speeds in California's Santa Barbara Channel region.

On January 1, 2017, the port authority added new incentive criteria to its existing EcoAction program to include harbour due rate discounts for quieter ships. This makes Canada the first country in the world with a marine noise reduction incentive.

Researchers have combined the trove of tracking data with satellite observations of ocean conditions to develop the first system for predicting locations of blue whales off the West Coast. The system, called WhaleWatch, produces monthly maps of blue whale “hotspots” to alert ships where there may be an increased risk of encountering these endangered whales