Whale Routes

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has urged ship captains to use new recommended routes when entering or leaving the Florida ports of Jacksonville and Fernandina, and Brunswick, Ga., as well as in Cape Cod Bay off Massachusetts. These new routes are expected to reduce the chances of ship strikes with endangered right whales.

Although the routes are voluntary, they will appear on both electronic and paper NOAA nautical charts no later than Nov. 30. The new designations will help mariners decrease whale strikes by reducing vessel activity in areas frequented by ships and whales.

North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world, with an estimated 300 individuals in existence today. The whales are highly vulnerable to ship collisions, and in recent years there have been reports of pregnant females and females with calves being struck by ships along the East Coast. Many scientists believe recovery has stalled, making the few reproductively active females even more important to survival of right whales.

In winter, right whales typically migrate south from waters off Canada and New England to calving and nursery areas off Florida and Georgia, traversing areas frequented by large ships. During the spring, females and their calves then return to more northerly feeding grounds, aggregating in Cape Cod Bay, also an area with substantial ship traffic.

-- LiveScience Staff

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Credit: NOAA