An original research article led by Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary staff on assessing adherence with voluntary slow speed initiatives in southern California to protect endangered whales was published in Frontiers in Marine Science in February 2022.
The original research article evaluated cooperation levels with voluntary slow speed requests in southern California from 2010-2019 to protect endangered whales and showed that, despite a recorded increase in cooperation in later years of the study timeframe, cooperation by large vessels with the voluntary requests is lower than research partners estimate is needed to reduce endangered whale mortality to levels that do not inhibit reaching and maintaining optimal sustainable populations. The work also shows that a complementary, incentive-based slow speed program (known as Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies) contributed to the recorded increase in cooperation, but, given the challenges of funding and sustaining an incentive-based program, speed regulations warrant consideration in the region. These data and findings help to evaluate current and potential management efforts by sanctuaries to reduce the risk of fatal ship strikes on endangered whales.
You can access the publication here. The specific article is titled, “Evaluating Adherence With Voluntary Slow Speed Initiatives to Protect Endangered Whales.”
