Ship Strikes

Management

    R. Schwemmer

NOAA (including the Sanctuary and National Marine Fisheries Service) are responsible for the protection of whales and are working on several fronts to reduce the threat of ship strikes.

Community Input
CINMS, agency partners, and the Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) have developed both short and long-term management measures to reduce the ship strike threat to Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed large whales in CINMS and the Santa Barbara Channel region.

Sanctuary Advisory Council Processes/Working Groups
The Sanctuary Advisory Councils provides a public forum for consultation and community deliberation on resource management issues affecting sanctuaries. The Council is supported by a number of working groups, which are created by and operate under the purview of the Council and help to bring additional community members and experts to focus on specific issues:

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council's Marine Shipping Working Group
The Advisory Council of CINMS formed the Marine Shipping Working Group in 2014 to develop recommendations to address regional shipping-related concerns. The working group consisted of a diverse group of stakeholders, including representatives from the Department of Defense, the United States Coast Guard, Channel Islands National Park, NOAA NMFS, the Marine Exchange of Southern California (Mx SoCal), the shipping industry, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, and the tourism, research, and conservation communities. The group met and deliberated over the course of 2015 and ultimately created a suite of management, education, outreach, and research recommendations that seek to reduce the risk of ship strikes on endangered whales, decrease air pollution, improve navigational safety, and manage ship traffic to reduce conflicts between ocean users. The final report for the Marine Shipping Working Group can be accessed online here.

Long Term

Outreach to Shipping Industry

Sanctuaries staff, along with colleagues at NMFS Southwest Region (SWR), have met with shipping industry representatives to discuss industry collaboration in reducing the risk of ships striking whales. In order to increase collaboration from industry, recommendations were made to use ships as platforms of opportunity to monitor the presence of whales, and to create feedback loops that foster more effective dialogue between NOAA managers and the shipping industry on the industry's response to seasonal notices.

Shipping Lane Adjustments in the Santa Barbara Channel

In 2011 the U.S. Coast Guard completed a Port Access Route Study to evaluate the need for modifications to current vessel routing in the approaches to the Los Angeles-Long Beach port and in the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC). The goal of the study was to reduce the risk of marine casualties and increase the efficiency of vessel traffic in the study area. The study recommended a shift of the southbound lane in the SBC by one nautical mile to the north, and the creation of a new shipping lane south of the northern Channel Islands. The USCG headquarters office decided not to move forward with the creation of the southern shipping lane due to interference with the U.S. Navy's Point Mugu Sea Test Range.

In 2012, the recommendation to shift the southbound lane in the SBC by one nautical mile to the north was written into a United States proposal that was sent to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for approval. A separate proposal was developed for the adjustments to the lanes in the approach to ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach. NOAA provided input for both proposals regarding the impact that the adjustments may have on ship strikes on large whales within the channel. NOAA expects that by shifting the southbound shipping lane to the north by one nautical mile in the SBC, vessel traffic will be moved further away from whale feeding "hotspots" and that ship strikes will be less likely to occur.

The proposals were evaluated by the US delegation to the IMO, and presented to the Safety of Navigation subcommittee in early July 2012. The subcommittee approved the amendments in both proposals and recommended to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) that the amendments be adopted. The MSC adopted the amendments in November 2012, and the changes to the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Santa Barbara Channel and the approach to the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, were effective June 1, 2013. See more information under Hot Topics.

Blue whale sightings and the proposed shipping lane adjustment in the Santa Barbara Channel. Click here for a larger view.

Channel Islands Region Incentive-Based Vessel Speed Reduction Programs

In 2014, in partnership with local agencies and non-government organizations, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary launched a trial incentive program to slow ships down in the Santa Barbara Channel to reduce air emissions and reduce the likelihood of fatality from a ship strike to endangered whales in the region. Seven global shipping companies participated in 2014 and agreed to slow 27 transits to 12kts or less from July through November in the Traffic Separation Scheme. This 2014 trial program not only demonstrated the willingness of shipping companies to participate in a voluntary, non-regulatory, non-port program, but also set the stage for a larger-scale program in 2016. Currently underway, this year's vessel speed reduction program is largely modeled of off the 2014 trial, but has been expanded spatially to include a whale-safer transit zone south of the islands as well as scaled-up fiscally to provide financial incentives for more than 65 transits to-date. For more information on the 2016 Vessel Speed Reduction Zone, please contact Sean Hastings at sean.hastings@noaa.gov.

The 2017 VSR program has expanded to include speed reduction zones in northern California, to ultimately incentivize ships to slow in both the Bay Area and the Santa Barbara Channel region across all California sanctuaries. The 2017 VSR partners include CINMS, SBCAPCD, VCAPCD, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and Environmental Defense Center, with funding support from SBCAPCD, VCAPCD, BAAQMD, Volengau Foundation, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The VSR partners are committed to protecting endangered whales and improving air quality. Potential future work may include modifying existing or adding speed reduction zones to include whale feeding and migration hotspots and/or Areas to be Avoided, expansion along the U.S. West Coast, greater recognition of shipping companies, and adopting a fleet approach.

2014 Incentive-Based Vessel Speed Reduction Program Zone

2016 Incentive-Based Vessel Speed Reduction Program Zones

Unusual Mortality Event (UME)

    T. Jacobs

Following the 2007 ship strikes, NMFS designated the situation as an Unusual Mortality Event (UME). Click here for more information about UMEs.