The U.S. currently has 14 National Marine Sanctuaries; in total they encompass some 150,000 square miles of habitat. These protected areas are like national parks for marine life. Within their waters, giant humpback whales breed and temperate reefs flourish.
But in the case of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, located off the coast of California, whales are falling victim to ocean traffic when feeding near shipping channels. These channels are the equivalent of ocean highways, with a steady flow of container ships, fishing vessels, and barges.
While nearly 100 ship collisions with whales have been reported off California’s coast since 1982, the actual number is thought to be much higher. Many go unreported, and experts think most casualties drift offshore and decompose, leaving little evidence behind.
The situation is so serious that the U.S. Coast Guard recently recommended shifting the shipping lanes in the Santa Barbara Channel, with the goal of moving traffic away from the feeding animals. Scientists think migrating blue whales may be especially vulnerable to ship strikes.
“You have this confluence where you’ve got a major shipping lane and it happens to be running right next to an area that is a major attractor for seabirds and all kinds of marine mammals and fish,” says Chris Mobley, of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. “The whales don’t seem to have any particular fear of these vessels – they don’t really notice them – and so the ships can strike them.”
Whale injuries are an unintended consequence of the boom in global trade. If our National Marine Sanctuaries are to be effective, we need to ensure animals are able to migrate and feed amidst growing ocean traffic.
Web Extra
Chris Mobley, of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, discusses why whales, as opposed to smaller sea species, are so vulnerable to being struck by vessels…
[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/mobley_web.mp3|titles=mobley_web]Photo, taken on January 9, 2006, courtesy of FlickkerPhotos via Flickr.