There’s some big news about efforts to protect endangered whales along the Central and South Coasts. An international agency has approved two important new steps to protect whales against one of the biggest threats they face, which is being accidentally struck by cargo ships.
"In the Santa Barbara Channel, and in and around the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, we welcome ships from around the world en route to and from the Ports of Hueneme, Los Angeles, and Long Beach," said Sean Hastings, who's with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
He’s the Policy, Management and Information Officer at Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
"We also welcome blue, fin, and humpback whales, which come during the summer to feed. Unfortunately, where we have ships and whales in the same place at the same time, we have a heightened risk of ship strikes on these endangered animals," said Hastings.
Hastings says they’ve been working on ways to reduce the conflict between whales and shipping for years. But now, two major new steps have been approved to reduce those conflicts.
One involves adjusting the shipping lanes off our coastline, to help keep them out of areas frequented by whales. The lanes are like a water highway used by ships as they travel to and from three Southern California ports.
"What this does it organizes the ships coming from San Francisco, or from Asia to queue up into lanes over the Continental Shelf, in deeper water, farther out to see, where there's less concentration of these blue, humpback and fin whales." Hastings says the whales are using shallower waters to feed, and the move will reduce the overlap of ships and whales at the same time, and same place.
The change will extend the shipping lanes 13 nautical miles west.
Hastings says the second move involves expanding the zone where ships are banned. It's known as the "Area To Be Avoided". It will grow from about 2000 square nautical miles to around 4000 square nautical miles.
Getting approval of the changes wasn’t easy. Efforts started in 2015, with whale experts, NOAA officials, the Coast Guard, the Navy, and the shipping industry setting up a group to look at solutions to the ship-whale conflict.
The end result was recommendations which then had to go to an international agency which oversees shipping issues — the International Maritime Organization, or IMO.
The IMO approved the two changes. Hastings says they are huge steps to add new protections for whales. "By extending the shipping lanes, and expanding the "Area To Be Avoided", we've had minimal to no impact on current shipping, while offering a great buffer for these animals."
The new changes will take effect summer 2023. Hastings thinks it’s a great way to easing the problem, saying it will reduce whale strikes without adding to operating costs for commercial maritime traffic.
