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New shipping lanes to protect whales
An effort to avoid large ships striking and killing endangered whales has led to new traffic lanes off the California coast.
The changes that start this week affect ship traffic in and out of San Francisco Bay, the Santa Barbara Channel and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Migrating blue, fin and humpback whales are prone to strikes since they are lured to the California coast in years where there is plentiful krill to feed on.
All three species are endangered. Blue whales, the largest animals on earth, can grow up to 27 metres long but are tiny compared to large cargo ships. There are believed to be about 2,000 blues in the northeast Pacific, about 2,000 fin whales and about 2,500 humpbacks.
An increase in fatal whale strikes led federal maritime officials to work with the shipping industry and environmentalists to find ways to reduce the deaths.
John Calambokidis, a Washington state-based scientist who has studied ship strikes off the US West Coast for decades and participated in the effort, said the lanes are a good first step but not a full solution.
"This will be a significant improvement but it will only result in a modest reduction in ship strikes, and there are a number of additional steps we need to take to make more progress on this," Calambokidis said.
The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which worked on the changes, applauded the efforts.
"We are in full agreement with the shipping changes as they will help assure the protection of both human and marine life and the continued safe and efficient flow of commerce in and out of California ports," TL Garrett, the association's vice president, said.
-AP
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