Ships a growing cause
of whale deaths

Up to one-third of whale
carcasses show signs of being
struck by ships, studies find

Isle humpbacks in less danger

By Randolph E. Schmid
Associated Press

WASHINGTON >> Although only two nations continue to hunt whales, the giants of the oceans still face a threat from humans: being struck by ships.

Between 20 percent and 35 percent of whales found dead show signs of having been struck by ships, more in some species, recent studies found.

Right whales in the western North Atlantic appear to have been especially hard hit. Their population is estimated at 300 to 325.

"Nearly half of the known mortality of the species is due to ship collisions or net entanglement. Ship collisions probably account for 40 percent," said David W. Laist of the federal Marine Mammal Commission. "It's a very significant share. ... It's clearly preventing their recovery."

Scott Kraus, director of research at the New England Aquarium, estimated that ship collisions are killing off one to two right whales a year, "and probably more that we don't see the bodies of."

"In a population this small, that's a significant percent," he said.

Prized for their oil, right whales were heavily hunted in the past. They were named because they were considered the right whale to hunt.

After most hunting ended, the majority of whale deaths and strandings were written off to disease, old age or similar reasons, said James G. Mead, a whale specialist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.

As researchers began studying the animals, however, they discovered signs of bruising. "You can't bruise a carcass; an animal has to be alive to bruise," Mead said. The most likely cause of bruising, he said, was a collision with a ship.

Some whales also had rows of slash marks left by propellers, while others suffered massive internal injuries in collisions, researchers found.

"I would say (ship collisions) is at least comparable and probably exceeds hunting mortality," Mead said.

While the International Whaling Commission bans hunting whales, Japan and Norway still conduct hunts, ostensibly for research purposes. A Japanese whaling fleet that returned home recently killed 440 minke whales during a six-month hunt.

Among recent cases of whale deaths:

>> A baby right whale was found dead off Long Island, N.Y., in June, the fourth calf of the endangered species to perish last year and the second believed killed in a collision with a ship.

>> The following month, a 45-foot humpback whale died of a crushed skull near Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. Park officials said the whale had been struck by a cruise ship.

Janice M. Straley, who teaches marine biology at the University of Alaska Southeast in Sitka, said park officials are urging cruise ships to reduce their speed to below 14 knots (16 mph) in Glacier Bay.

In 1999 the government launched a mandatory ship reporting system for vessels over 300 tons entering designated areas known to be right whale habitats off Cape Cod, Mass., Florida and Georgia. The goal is to understand ship traffic patterns in the areas so efforts can be made to protect the whales.

In the first year of operation -- the most current data available -- there were 699 ship reports in the northern area and 279 in the southern district. Officials believe, however, that many vessels failed to report in and others filed inaccurate reports that had to be dropped from the analysis.

Among the proposals to help avoid collisions have been rerouting vessels around high-risk areas, restricting speed in those areas or changing routes to minimize the time in whale areas, though no official steps have been taken.

Avoiding ships seems to be learned behavior, and in several species, particularly right and humpback whales, most of the animals are juveniles and may have less awareness of the danger, Laist of the Marine Mammal Commission said.

Calves also tend to be fatter, so they have more trouble diving and spend more time at the surface than adults.

Laist said there are "all sorts of behaviors" that keep whales on the surface. Right whales sometimes doze there, engage in sexual activities or nurse and may be less alert during those times. In a behavior called "logging," right whales tend to laze at the surface and are often unaware of what is going on around them, he said.

Kraus of the New England Aquarium suspects there is so much noise in the oceans, especially off New England, that the whales simply do not hear the ships coming. And, he added, they sometimes form courtship groups that can number up to 30 or 40 whales for hours at a time, and they are oblivious to anything going on around them.

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Isle humpbacks
in less danger

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Collisions between boats and whales are not as urgent a concern in Hawaii, where visibility is better and there are fewer boats, experts say.

There are more humpback whales, so one or two deaths per year is not as big a proportion of the population as in the Atlantic Ocean's right whales.

However, the burgeoning humpback population itself has whale researchers concerned about the future.

The current winter population of humpback whales in Hawaiian waters is about 4,000, but that is expected to increase to 10,000 within 10 years, said Greg Kaufman, president of the Pacific Whale Foundation.

"Strikes" between boats and whales "doesn't appear to be a large problem, but logic can tell you it's only going to increase," Kaufman said.

Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary co-manager Jeff Walters said there are plans to hold a workshop for the shipping and cruise industry within the next year, to give tips on avoiding whales.

"They want this sort of workshop," Walters said. "Whales can weigh 40 tons, and when you hit them it's bad for the boat and bad for the whale. It's something you want to avoid."

He continued: "Ship strikes are definitely on our radar screen. We think last year (the winter of 2000-01), there were approximately five ship strikes, but don't think there were any fatalities for whales."

This season, there were two reports of a ship hitting a whale and two reports of whales bumping stationary boats, he said.

The most important tip for boat operators is to slow down, Walters and Kaufman agreed.

"Twenty knots or less is plenty speed, and for whale-watching, 15 knots is best," Kaufman said. "Boats that strike whales at over 14, 15 knots can be fatal."