From noaa-whale-advisory-l at rain.org Wed Apr 17 16:40:22 2013 From: noaa-whale-advisory-l at rain.org (Whale Advisory E-mail List for NOAA West Coast) Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:40:22 -0700 Subject: Whale Advisory Listerv- Spring 2013 Message-ID: *Listserv e-mail ? Second Edition? Spring 2013* Greetings Whale Advisory Listserv subscribers! A new whale season is right around the corner. Here are some announcements that NOAA would like to share with you. *1) Shipping Lane Adjustments off California * *2) New Whale Sightings App * *3) Whale Poster for Ships * *4) Vessel Speed Reduction Incentive for Santa Barbara Channel * *5) New Publication on Ship Strike Risk in the Santa Barbara Channel Region * *6) New Publication on *Reducing Risk of Collision-related Mortality 7) How to Respond to a Whale Stranding** * * *1) Shipping Lane Adjustments to Protect Endangered Whales along the California Coast* In November 2012, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which governs shipping worldwide adopted three proposals deemed necessary to improve navigational safety and to reduce ship strikes on endangered whales at the entrance to San Francisco Bay, the Santa Barbara Channel and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Vessels in these areas also transit through NOAA?s Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and Channel Islands national marine sanctuaries (CBNMS, GFNMS and CINMS) where blue, humpback and fin whales feed and congregate. Extending the three lanes in the approach to San Francisco Bay is expected to reduce interactions between ships and whales within Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones national marine sanctuaries. According to the IMO decision, the lane extensions will improve maritime safety in the area by keeping vessels on a dedicated route through prime fishing grounds, which will reduce interaction between fishing vessels and commercial ships. The proposed vessel lane changes in the Santa Barbara Channel and CINMS narrow the overall width of the existing lanes in the approach to Los Angeles and Long Beach and shift the southbound lane one nautical mile north. This change will move vessels away from an area historically used by feeding blue and humpback whales. Presently, the U.S. Coast Guard is going through the federal rulemaking process to implement the shipping lane adjustments, which is scheduled to be complete on June 1, 2013. More information can be found at these websites: http://channelislands.noaa.gov/focus/management.html http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/protect/shipstrike/policy.html Office of National Marine Sanctuaries press release: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/press/2012/pr122712.html *2) New Whale App** *** A new marine mammal sightings tool that uses mobile application technology is being developed by EarthNC (a private technology company). The mobile app, called ?Spotter? (http://conserve.io/spotter/) is a partnership project among EarthNC, west coast sanctuaries, NOAA Fisheries, Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO) Conservation Science, and the Pacific Merchant's Shipping Association (PMSA). Special thanks to the PMSA and Cordell Marine Sanctuary Foundation for the generous contribution in support of this app. The Spotter app will streamline collection of marine mammal sightings via the use of smart phone and tablet technology for use by a wide range of commercial, whale watching and recreational boats. In addition, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (CBNMS and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS) working with PRBO Conservation Science have developed a voluntary sightings program known as Whale Aware; a new system that plans to use the Spotter app for gathering near ?real time? data on whale distribution and abundance at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. This crowd sourced data (data obtained from the general public) will be checked and refined by aerial surveys and professional observations from PRBO biologists on land on the Southeast Farallon Island and at sea on marine surveying ACCESS cruises. With more real time data on where whales are congregating, NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard can alert ships of whale presence in the area. NOAA is working with the shipping industry to beta-test the app this summer. The app is also being tested by naturalists on local whale watch vessels. The goal is to make this app widely available later in 2013 or 2014. *3) Whale Poster for Ships* A whale poster is being developed by the Pacific Merchant?s Shipping Association in collaboration with NOAA for use on board ships as an educational tool to aid in whale identification and reporting. * * *4) Vessel Speed Reduction Incentive Initiative for Santa Barbara Channel* The Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District, Environmental Defense Center, and west coast national marine sanctuaries propose to provide financial incentives to ships that voluntarily reduce speeds in the Santa Barbara Channel, thereby reducing emissions and protecting whales. The funding would come from the State of California?s cap-and-trade auction proceeds that aim to reduce greenhouse gases. For more information, refer to:http://www.sbcapcd.org/itg/shipemissions.htm and http://www.sbcapcd.org/itg/SBCAPCD-toCARB-030713.pdf *5) New Paper on Assessing the Risk of Whale Ship Strikes in the Santa Barbara Channel Region* We are pleased to announce publication of the following paper by Jessica Redfern and NOAA co-authors (2013): Assessing the risk of ships striking large whales in marine spatial planning. Conservation Biology 27:292-302. It is accessible at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12029/abstract. *6) New Paper on Reducing Risk of Collision-related Mortality for North Atlantic Right Whales* We would also like to announce a paper by Conn and Silber (2013): Vessel speed restrictions reduce risk of collision-related mortality for North Atlantic right whales. Ecosphere 4(4):43. It is accessible at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES13-00004.1 *7) How to Respond to a Stranding* We need your help - if you see a whale in distress or a dead whale, please call: 877-SOS-WHALe (877-767-9425). Please take pictures if possible and be ready to provide the general location of the animal, whether it was alive or dead, the nature of distress, and the animal?s condition. Mariners are advised to keep a sharp lookout for whales. There have been two recent ship strikes of fin whales: In December 2012, a fin whale carcass washed up on Malibu Beach, and in February 2013, a fin whale carcass came into the Port of L.A. on the bow of a container ship. Gray whales are still in the area on their annual migration. If you have any questions or comments about this email, please contact: Andrea Dransfield, *andrea.dransfield at noaa.gov*, (805) 966-7107 x 371. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: