Abstract
In 1998, the United States sought and received International Maritime Organization-endorsement of two Mandatory Ship Reporting (MSR) systems designed to improve mariner awareness about averting ship collisions with the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). Vessel collisions are a serious threat to the right whale and the program was among the first formal attempts to reduce this threat. Under the provisions of the MSR, all ships >300 gross tons are required to report their location, speed, and destination to a shore-based station when entering two key right whale habitats: one in waters off New England and one off coastal Georgia and Florida. In return, reporting ships receive an automatically-generated message, delivered directly to the ship’s bridge, that provides information about right whale vulnerability to vessel collisions and actions mariners can take to avoid collisions. The MSR has been in operation continuously from July 1999 to the present. Archived incoming reports provided a 15-plus year history of ship operations in these two locations. We analyzed a total of 26,772 incoming MSR messages logged between July 1999 and December 2013. Most ships that were required to report did so, and compliance rates were generally constant throughout the study period. Self-reported vessel speeds when entering the systems indicated that most ships travelled between 10 and 16 (range = 5–20 +) knots. Ship speeds generally decreased in 2009 to 2013 following implementation of vessel speed restrictions. The number of reports into the southern system remained relatively constant following a steady increase through 2007, but numbers in the northern system decreased annually beginning in 2008. If reporting is indicative of long-term patterns in shipping operations, it reflects noteworthy changes in marine transportation. Observed declines in ship traffic are likely attributable to the 2008–2009 economic recession, the containerized shipping industry making increased use of larger ships that made fewer trips, and diminished oil/gas US imports as previously inaccessible domestic deposits were exploited. Recent declines in shipping activity likely resulted in lowered collision risks for right whales and reduced their exposure to underwater noise from ships.
Highlights
By the mid-18th century, the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) was depleted to near extinction by commercial whaling
A total of 46,477 incoming Mandatory Ship Reporting (MSR) reports were logged between July 1999 and December 2013
We restricted analyses to reports that included at least one valid location other than the entry location, provided an entry location within 5 nm of the MSR boundary, was associated with an currently active MSR area, and in which the ship made a trip that passed through the same MSR area as the area indicated in the incoming report
Summary
By the mid-18th century, the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) (hereafter “right whale”) was depleted to near extinction by commercial whaling. Right whales were among the first of the baleen whales to receive international protection. After whaling for this species ended, attention turned to different threats: serious injury and deaths caused by entanglement in commercial fishing gear and collisions with large ships (Clapham, Young & Brownell, 1999; Kraus et al, 2005). Vessel collisions involving a number of endangered large whale species are relatively common in US waters (Henry et al, 2012; Laist et al, 2001; van der Hoop et al, 2014) and are regarded as a significant impediment to the recovery of right whales (NMFS, 2005). The right whale is vulnerable to collisions with vessels throughout its range, but the threat may be high in these aggregation areas where vessel traffic is concentrated (NMFS, 2005)
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