Ship Strikes
Reports and Documents
2017 Vessel Speed Reduction Program Enrollment Materials
Outreach Materials for Mariners
West coast sanctuaries have
developed outreach materials for mariners to encourage participation in the collection of whale
data.
Vessel Strikes and Acoustic Impacts: Report of a Joint
Working Group of the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Advisory
Councils (2012)
Protecting endangered species and sanctuary resources is a priority issue for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
(ONMS). To address this issue, the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank Sanctuary Advisory
Councils formed a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Vessel Strikes and Acoustic Impacts, including
representatives from conservation groups, the shipping industry, and the scientific community.
Additional technical expertise was provided by staff from government agencies, conservation groups
and scientists, who were not formal members of the JWG but contributed to the process. The purpose
of the JWG is to recommend actions to reduce ship strike and ocean noise impacts in the two
sanctuaries.
Read the Full Report
Petition to Slow Ships in California Marine Sanctuaries (2012)
In June 2011 a consortium of environmental organizations
petitioned NOAA
 pdf to establish a 10 knot speed limit for vessel greater than 65 feet
traveling within Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Faralllones, Monterey Bay, and Channel Islands National
Marine Sanctuaries. The petition claims that the requested vessel speed restriction would reduce or
avoid significant threats to marine resources, including protected species, resulting from vessel
traffic in these areas. The petition also asserts that the requested speed reduction would mitigate
underwater noise pollution and air pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions, from vessel
traffic.
NOAA declined to issue a 10-knot speed restriction at this time so that we may continue
directing our resources to proceeding with the ongoing development and implementation of a
comprehensive ship strike strategy for the West Coast. This strategy is detailed in the response and
attachment and references our ongoing outreach, research and monitoring and management measures,
such as the seasonal whale advisory zone.
NOAA Petition Response March 2012
Reducing the Threat of Ship Strikes on Large Cetaceans in the Santa Barbara Channel
Region and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary: Recommendations and Case Studies (2009/2011)
http://channelislands.noaa.gov/sac/pdf/sscs10-2-09.pdf
This report was prepared by Abramson, L., Polefka, S., Hastings, S., Bor, K. for the Ship Strike
Subcommittee of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) Advisory Council. The
Sanctuary Advisory Council adopted the report and its recommendations on September 18, 2009. The
report was then published in the Marine Sanctuaries Conservation Series ONMS-11-01 in 2011.
Read the Full Report
Reducing the risk of vessel strikes to endangered whales in the Santa Barbara Channel: An Economic
Analysis and Risk Assessment of Potential Management Scenarios (2011)
This is a final Group Project report authored by students at the Bren School of Environmental
Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Group Project is required
of all students in the Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) Program. It is a three
quarter activity in which small groups of students conduct focused, interdisciplinary research on
the scientific, management, and policy dimensions of a specific environmental issue. This final
Group Project Report has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Christopher Costello, faculty advisor.
Read the Full Report
Port Access Route Study for Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (2010/2011)
In 2010 and 2011, the Coast Guard conducted a Port Access Route Study (PARS) to evaluate the
continued applicability of and the need for modifications to current vessel routing in the approaches
to Los Angeles-Long Beach and in the Santa Barbara Channel. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
and National Marine Fisheries Service submitted comment letters and data products encouraging the
Coast Guard to consider routes that may also reduce the threat of ship strikes to large whales.
Comment letters and data products are provided below.
CINMS and NMFS Joint Comment Letter – May 2011 pdf
CINMS Whale Data Product – May 2011 pdf
NMFS Whale Data Product – May 2011 pdf
Federal Register Notice – September 2010
pdf
CINMS Comment Letter – June 2010
pdf
Sanctuary Advisory Council Comment Letter –
June 2010 pdf
Federal Register Notice – April
2010 pdf Other
Response of Commercial Ships to a Voluntary Speed Reduction Measure: Are Voluntary
Strategies Adequate for Mitigating Ship-Strike Risk? (McKenna et al. 2012) pdf
Report of a Workshop to Identify and Assess Technologies to Reduce Ship Strikes of Large Whales
(NMFS 2009)
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/shipstrike
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