Saving endangered whales: New tool tracks speed of ship on US coasts to prevent collision

Amid rising incidents of whale deaths from collision with ships near major ports on the east and west coasts of the Unites States, a new data analysis tool tracks the extent of which shipping companies abide by speed limits meant to protect the endangered mammals.

Data pulled by a new tool made by the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at UC Santa Barabara showed that large vessels slowed down 59% of the time when operating in designated slow-speed zones. The tool relies on vessel analytics provided by Whale Safe, which gives real-time information about the location of whales and ships off the West Coast of the US.

“Ship strikes are one of the gravest threats to great whales, but all it would take to eliminate many of these tragic deaths is a slowdown in speed when the whales are present,” Dr Douglas McCauley, director of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory said in a press release. “We’ve already seen that asking ships to travel less than 10 knots where whales have been sighted can save these creatures’ lives, but not all ships are abiding by these limits. Thanks to a range of innovative technologies, we can now pinpoint speeding ships and provide data to help companies save whales,” Dr McCauley added.

Notably, whales are less threatened by cargo ships when their speed is limited and it has proven to curb whale deaths or make whale strikes less fatal. “We’ve made progress on holding ship operators accountable to these speed recommendations, but fatal whale strikes remain far too high,” said Rachel Rhodes, a project scientist at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory who led the tool’s development.

“As the maritime industry grows, real-time analytics make it possible for everyone from shipping company logistic planners to the general public to keep track of how ships perform.”

“Whale strikes aren’t just a problem in the US — they happen worldwide,” Rhodes added, “We hope this tool can serve as a model for similar efforts globally.”

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