Ship strikes on whales more common than expected
A new study has found that nearly 15% of humpback whales that arrive every spring in the southern Gulf of Maine have been hit by at least one ship.
The Portland Press Herald reported a group of marine scientists, who published their findings in the March issue of the journal Marine Mammal Science, also said the figure might be low because it doesn’t account for whales killed in ship strikes.
“Vessel strikes are a significant risk to both whales and to boaters,” lead author Alex Hill, a scientist with the conservation group Whale and Dolphin Conservation in Plymouth, Mass., told the newspaper.
According to the report, North Atlantic humpbacks in the Gulf of Maine overlap with both recreational and commercial vessel activity, and there are no regulations or guidelines devised to reduce the likelihood of collisions, except for whale-watching vessels. The study involved a review of 210,733 photos for five categories of injury consistent with a vessel strike. The authors recommend that a management strategy be developed for all classes of vessels transiting in the vicinity of whales.
Federal and state fishery regulators, conservationists and the pot/trap fishing industry have been working for years to mitigate impacts to whales from fishing gear entanglements, as well as ship strikes.
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