From noaa-whale-advisory-l at rain.org Thu Jul 18 18:43:36 2013 From: noaa-whale-advisory-l at rain.org (Whale Advisory E-mail List for NOAA West Coast) Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 18:43:36 -0700 Subject: Updates on the WAZ, new shipping lanes, whale poster and the new 'Spotter' app Message-ID: *Greetings Listserv Members,* The following is an update on the Whale Advisory Zone (WAZ) and new shipping lanes in effect, as well as the development of a whale identification poster and the newly released whale ?Spotter? app. *POINT ARGUELLO TO DANA POINT- WHALES* NOAA recommends vessels transiting the area between Point Arguello and Dana Point, including the Traffic Separation Schemes in the Santa Barbara Channel and San Pedro Channel, from May through November, should exercise caution and reduce speed. These areas contain populations of endangered blue, humpback and fin whales. Collisions with these animals resulting in their injury or death is a violation of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1538 et seq.), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). Please see the whale advisory zone.pdf (attached). Additional information can be found at: http://channelislands.noaa.gov/focus/alert.html. Please report any collisions with whales or any observed injured or dead whales to NOAA at *877-SOS-WHALe* (877-767-9425) or to the U.S. Coast Guard on *VHF Channel 16*. * * *SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME AMENDMENT* As a reminder, the new shipping lanes are in effect in the Santa Barbara Channel: The International Maritime Organization (IMO) amended the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Santa Barbara Channel and the approach to the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, effective 1700 Pacific Standard Time May 31, 2013. The TSS amendment reduces the width of the separation zone from 2 nautical miles (nm) to 1 nm by shifting the inbound lane shoreward and away from known whale concentrations. The outbound lane remains unchanged in the current location. Narrowing the separation zone is expected to reduce co-occurrence of ships and whales while maintaining navigation safety. The IMO approved coordinates and graphic depicting the enclosed changes are provided in the enclosures section *Whale Poster* A whale poster has been developed by the Pacific Merchant?s Shipping Association (PMSA), in collaboration with NOAA, to assist commercial vessels in participating as whale observers. The posters will be provided to commercial shipping vessels that sail in California waters and will instruct crewmembers on how to watch for, identify and report whales. The data will be collected and analyzed by NOAA scientists. To view the poster, see the attached pdf. If you would like to request a poster for your ship, please contact TL Garrett at: TGarrett at pmsaship.com *Whale ?Spotter? App* NOAA is proud to announce that ?Spotter Pro? is now available on iTunes. This mobile App is for iPad and iPhone devices and will be used by crews aboard commercial, recreational, research and pleasure crafts to report whale and dolphin sightings. This app allows users to pinpoint real-time whale locations on a map, a feature that will create a registry of whale sightings that can be used for whale conservation efforts. The app is available here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spotter-pro-field-data-capture/id651453350?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 ** * * *Report whale sightings* NOAA has set up an email account to report whale sightings along the California coast. Understanding more about where and when whales are present along the coast helps NOAA protect these species. Your help is much appreciated. If you see whales, please note the following: -GPS location -Species of whale (if known) -Description of the whale -Number of animals and their behavior Email information to whales at noaa.gov -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: WAZ SoCal, chart (1).jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2711616 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: WhalePoster_final.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 1693600 bytes Desc: not available URL: