1. Recommendations to
Avoid Whale Strikes
off the Coast of San
Francisco, CA
Simone Barley-Greenfield
Maren Farnum
Rich Rainer
DyAnna Rodriguez
Michael Stiller
2. Regulatory Setting: Local
Ports:
Port of Oakland
Ex.: Maritime Air Quality
Improvement Program
(MAQIP)
Agencies:
Legislation:
CA Endangered Species Act, 1970
CA Marine Life Protection Act, 1999
- MPAs
- Protect ecological integrity
- Protect speciesRegional:
Bay Area Air Quality
Management District
3. Regulatory Setting: National
Legislation:
Clean Air Act, 1963
Marine Mammal Protection
Act, 1972
National Marine Sanctuary
Act, 1972
Endangered Species
Act, 1973
Agencies:
NOAA
National Marine Fisheries
Service
National Marine Sanctuaries
Environmental Protection
Agency
United States Coast Guard
4. Regulatory Setting: International
Agencies:
UN: International Maritime
Organization (IMO)
International Whaling Commission
(IWC)
Regulatory Instruments:
UNCLOS
Intntl. Convention for the
Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)
Intntl. Regulations for
Preventing Collisions at Sea
Convention on Oil Pollution,
Preparedness, Response,
and Co-operation
Port State Control
5. Recommendations Dynamic/Seasonal
Management Area
Develop a real-time whale monitoring program
that brings together multiple stakeholders
including shipping industry, party boats, and
scientists to help sanctuaries provide timely
notice to mariners on areas with high numbers
of whales
Issue alerts to vessels to change course or
avoid areas in the moment
•Whale Alert 2.0/Spotter Pro
•Opportunistic Land-Based observation
•Opportunistic Aerial Surveys
•Commercial Vessel Observations (ride-
alongs)
• Whale Watch Vessels
Whale Alert 2.0 App
Image: http://whaleaware.org/
6. Recommendations Dynamic/Seasonal
Management Area
Implement Dynamic Management Areas in areas
with high whale concentrations for at least one
week or longer as the whale spatial and temporal
distribution warrants.
Vessels slow down within the DMA, or preferably,
choose alternate lanes where there would be no
active DMA.
Experiment with targeted voluntary speed
reductions (VSRs) during whale season.
Request vessels slow-down to 10 knots or less
only in one of the three lanes at the approach to
San Francisco Bay.
Assessing the level of cooperation to voluntary
speed reduction requests.
Conducting cost-benefit analysis of level of
cooperation vs. expense of real-time monitoring
and staff resource needs
(Image: Andrea Dransfield SFSU data from ACCESS a partnership between NOAA &
PRBO)
7. Continued Research and Monitoring
Compile analysis of historic and
new data on whale distribution
and whale movements,
distribution at night vs. daytime
Use bathymetric, oceanographic,
regional ocean climate, and other
variables as predictive drivers
Gather data on whale behavior in
and around shipping lanes to
determine vulnerability to ship
strikes and variability by season,
time of day, species, sex, age,
foraging behavior vs other
behaviors
.
Images: John Calambokidis, Cascadia Research)
Source: Ryan et al. (2005). Marine Ecology Process Series. 287:23-32.
8. Shipping Lane Adjustments in Tandem
with DMAs/SMAs
• Restricted use of
shipping lanes during
summer and fall
• Extend lanes further
offshore, determine
optimal trajectories to
reduce overlap of
shipping lanes with whale
habitat
• Listening for whales
instead of looking – auto
detection mooring
systems
What is the cost/benefit of strategically
placing acoustic buoys within the shipping
lane to listen for whale presence?
9. Recommendation: Vessel
Speed Reduction (VSR)
• Current vessel speeds carry
many negative externalities
• Air pollution
• Navigational error
• Higher emissions
• Deadlier whale strikes
• Reducing vessel speeds will
address all four of these issues
• No costly technological
upgrades
• Immediately implementable
• Easy to track (AIS)
• Predictable
10. Approaches to VSR
Voluntary
Market and Performance-based Incentives for
Speed Reductions
Regulatory
Speed Limits in Sanctuaries and Critical
Habitat
• NMFS has the power to
issue regulations that limit
vessel speeds in waters
where endangered whales
might be found
• Endangered Species Act
• Marine Mammal Protection Act
• Example: Speed regulations
to protect Northern Right
Whales
• Federal speed limit of 10 knots
• Fines for non-compliance
• Example: Green Flag incentives
program
– The Port of Long Beach requests
vessels slow to 12 knots or lower within
40 or 20 nm of Point Fermin
– Awards vessels with Green Flags for
one year of 100% compliance
– Rewards companies with 15-25%
reduction in dockage for achieving 90%
compliance
• A similar approach could be
applied to the waters
surrounding the Port of Oakland
(10 knots beyond GG bridge)
– Incentives could be in the form
payments (like ESI)
– Or incentives could come in the of
priority berthing access or docking
rebates
– Both options could be accompanied by
PR-friendly labeling and public
recognition from both the Port and from
NFMS and/or IMO
of
Source: Port of Long BeachSource: NOAA NMFS
12. Technological Upgrades and
Improvements
• Most undersea
noise generated by
propeller cavitation
• Controllable pitch,
skewback, Kort
nozzle
• Diesel engines
• Use diesel
generator to
power electric
motors instead of
direct drive diesel
engines
• Hull isolation,
sound dampening
technology
CW: Skewback propeller, controllable pitch
propeller, rubber mounting isolation, diesel
generators in tanker M/T Stolt Capability
13. Education and Outreach
• It is vital to communicate to a broad audience why VSR/DMA is a valid response
to reducing ship strikes of whales.
1. Audience: identify who you are trying to impact/target
• Shipping and merchant industry, policy makers, K-12 education programs
2. Collaborative Partnership: utilize known experts to assist in outreach
• What is the best resource to get out the information? Web design experts, video
production, curriculum development
3. Approaches of Uniqueness: find approaches that are proven to work
• Determine an implementation method that has not been attempted or has not failed.
• For a shipping industry→ have a proposed solution for where/how to implement
VSR/DMA
• For K-12→have a proposed field trip or curriculum to educate on VSR/DMA
4. Evaluation Plan: evidence that VSR/DMA will reduce ship strikes
• Research papers, has VSR/DMA been implemented before, field studies
5. Defensible Budget: how much will it cost
• This is an integral piece to the overall implementation of the outreach. Have an outlined
budget shows a significant sign of commitment.
Source: Centers For Ocean Sciences Education Excellence
