Tag: whales

Gard, in light of February 16 being 'World Whale Day', published a revision on US and Canadian regulations and recommendations concerning whales, aiming at reducing collisions between North Atlantic right whales and ships. ‘World Whale Day’ held annually on the third Saturday in February, was founded in Maui, Hawaii, in 1980, to honour humpback whales, which swim off its coast.

The Canadian National Energy Board delivered its Reconsideration report to the Government of Canada, with an overall recommendation for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (Project). The report says that the project should be approved, but it also makes recommendations regarding marine shipping. The Reconsideration report concludes that Project-related marine shipping could cause important adverse environmental effects on the Southern resident killer whale.

A recent report by OceanCare, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Seas at Risk and Natural Resources Defense Council, found that the EU could fail to protect marine wildlife from the impacts of intense underwater noise levels by 2020, despite a requirement to do so under EU marine law. The report raises concerns that despite evidence that noise sources are damaging marine species, some governments continue to call for further research instead of taking action.

The Canadian based Chamber of Shipping and the United States based Pacific Merchant Shipping Association will cooperate to ensure safe and sustainable shipping on the Pacific Northwest and the Salish Sea. These areas are considered key gateways for marine commerce in Canada and the US. Both organizations will take part in the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's ECHO program.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has expanded its industry-leading EcoAction Program, encouraging vessels that call on the Port of Vancouver to quiet the waters for the endangered whale population along the southern coast of British Columbia. Specifically, the program got into force on January 1, 2019. 

Spain announced that it will construct the second-largest marine national park in the Mediterranean, turning the Cabrera National Park area nine times larger and  taking the total area protected to 90,794 hectares. The park, located south of Mallorca, will offer legal protection for marine life that is threatened, such as corals, dolphins and whales. 

Using data from underwater robots, scientists have discovered that beaked whales prefer to feed within parts of a Navy sonar test range off Southern California that have dense patches of deep-sea squid. Therefore, the British Ecological Society published a study 'Quantifying deep-sea predator–prey dynamics' that shows that beaked whales need these prey hot spots to survive, and that similar patches do not exist in nearby 'sonar-free' areas.

Vineyard Wind, U.S. offshore wind developer, agreed to take measures in order to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales while installing and operating turbines at its proposed 84-turbine project 14 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. The agreement in favour of Whales and other mammal species, was between the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Wildlife Federation and Conservation Law Foundation. The organisations wish that the agreement will provide a model for future offshore wind developments to follow.

Japan's recently-announced decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) -which means to continue commercial whaling after more than 30 years-, has spurred different reactions across environmental organizations across the globe.

The US decided to allow a first-in-a-generation seismic search for oil and gas in the Atlantic ocean. This move was made in spite of protests claiming that these tests will use loud air gun blasts that will harm marine animals like whales, dolphins and other animals.