The vast majority of large ships off the East Coast of the United States are traveling at full speed through slow zones designed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, a study published Thursday highlights.
“The boats are going faster and the whales are dying, it’s as simple as that,” summarizes Gib Brogan, campaign director for Oceana, an NGO that launched this study based on collecting navigation data from large boats near the American East Coast.
Collisions with boats, along with entanglements in fishing nets, are a leading cause of death for North Atlantic right whales, a large mammal of which only 340 remain. Collisions can occur directly or, for example, with the propeller, which can result in fatal injuries.
Since 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has established a mandatory speed limit of ten knots for vessels 20 meters or longer in areas where whales are suspected, and has proposed a maximum speed of ten knots in areas where whales are suspected where whales were spotted.
However, data collected by Ocena from the transceivers of these vessels suggests that from November 2020 to July 2022, 84% of them exceeded speed limits in mandatory zones and 82% in speed limit zones.
“People in the shipping industry have told us that they are trying to balance the risk of a small fine to the government (for speeding in reduced speed zones) with the risk of a fine in the event of late delivery of their cargo.” , emphasizes Mr. Brogan to AFP, whose NGO works to protect the oceans.
Of the 9,358 vessels that exceeded the speed limit between November 2021 and July 2022, NOAA issued 46 fines at an average cost of $15,600, the study highlights.
Once estimated at around 20,000, the population of these right whales, which can grow up to 18 meters long and have a life expectancy equal to that of humans, has declined with the increase in commercial whaling on the American East Coast at the turn of the 20th century .century.
In English, they are called “right whales,” meaning that whales are “good” to hunt because they have fat, which is valued for oil production, or because they have baleen plates that are both strong and flexible, which they used to be The plastic boom made it a material of choice.
The whaling ban of the mid-20th century encouraged the revival of North Atlantic right whales, with a peak of 483 individuals in 2010. But since 2017, the number of deaths has risen again, particularly due to collisions and a declining birth rate related to chronic whale stress, among others where mothers suffer.
“We know what we have to do to save the species. So it is a question of doing this (…),” assures Mr. Brogan, calling, among other things, for the update of the low speed zones to better reflect the distribution of species, as well as a further limitation of speed in certain zones and the Extension of punitive measures to smaller boats.