Opinion: To save whales, look to the sky

Abstract

Human activity threatens whales. Whale populations face indirect impacts such as ocean noise and pollution, as well as direct impacts from whaling, fishing gear entanglements, and ship collisions (1). Such collisions are believed to kill about 80 whales on the US West Coast each year (2). Although precise estimates have not been tabulated, whale deaths likely amount to several thousand annually worldwide. Simple steps could reduce this toll, but these have yet to be put in place in a systemized way (3⇓–5). With maritime traffic expanding, the threat to whales can be expected to increase. It is therefore critical that we investigate what can be learned from the management of other transport systems to reduce collision and improve whale conservation. Shipping routes have been compared with roads, and concepts from terrestrial ecology have been borrowed to assess the direct and indirect ecological impacts from shipping on marine giants (6). For example, some have suggested that the addition of transition zones adjacent to maritime routes may help buffer the spread of shipping environmental impact. We extend this approach to draw lessons from the aviation industry on how to manage collisions with wildlife, lessons that point to crucial steps for better protecting the ocean’s whales (Fig. 1). Fig. 1. The aviation industry offers useful lessons for the shipping industry on how to manage wildlife collisions, which point to crucial steps for better protecting whales. Image credit: Shutterstock/Manamana. Fig. 2. Comparing the primary features of wildlife–vehicle collisions among four transportation industries highlights important differences and commonalities. Whale–ship collisions share more characteristics with bird–aircraft collisions than with terrestrial wildlife–vehicle collisions. There are some key theoretical similarities with the aviation industry (Fig. 2). Both whale–ship and bird–aircraft collisions occur in three-dimensional space. Ship draught can reach a depth of 20 m, and some whale … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: maxime.sebe{at}polytechnique.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1