Dear Marmam community,
We are very pleased to share news of a recent step taken by Antarctic
expedition tour operators to proactively manage risk to whales from ship
operations on the Antarctic Peninsula. The following short working paper is
being tabled at IWC presently:
Ship Strike Risk Mitigation by Antarctic Expedition Tourism Vessels
Ted Cheeseman(1),(2), Amanda Lynnes(2) and Lisa Kelley(2)
1Happywhale (www.happywhale.com) and Southern Cross University, New South
Wales, Australia
2International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, 50 South Commons Way,
Unit E-5B, South Kingstown, RI, 02879, USA
The Antarctic Peninsula region is an area of significant and growing human
activity, including science, fishing and tourism. While no cetacean population
along the Antarctic Peninsula has been comprehensively assessed, anecdotal
evidence and extremely high pregnancy rates (Pallin et al., 2018) leave little
question that humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) populations are enjoying
rapid growth rates as well. Recognizing that increased shipping has the
potential to lead to an increase in whale strikes, especially in the whale rich
waters of the Gerlache Strait, members of the International Association of
Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) voted at their recent annual meeting in Cape
Town, South Africa, to adopt mandatory measures to mitigate ship strike risk
from ship operations. IAATO members operate under a mandate to keep the impact
of tourism “less than minor or transitory”, an ethos that motivated IAATO
efforts to find ship strike risk reduction solutions, without having
comprehensive data for whale distributions exist to support spatial planning in
the manner of van der Hoop et al. (2012), for example.
IAATO member operators represent the large majority of all tour operators
operating in Antarctica, including all commercial SOLAS passenger ship
operators. The association has reported nine ship strikes to IWC since 2001.
In May 2019, IAATO members voted unanimously to adopt the following measure:
For the 2019-20 season, IAATO Operators are instructed to commit to one of the
following:
1. A 10kn speed restriction within the Geofenced time-area proposed.
*This excludes emergency or other extenuating circumstances.
OR for IAATO Operators who have a whale strike mitigation training program:
2. An extra watchman on the bridge for the sole purpose of being on whale
lookout within the Geofenced time-area proposed. Appropriate records of this
action must be recorded in the ship’s log.
This is a mandatory measure; all IAATO Operators will participate by taking one
of these two actions during the 2019-20 season.
The geofenced time/area is as follows:
• January 1 through May 30 in the Gerlache Strait and adjacent waters,
in the area between 63.65S and 65.35S, including Dallmann Bay west to 64.2W
• February 1 through May 30 in the Marta Passage entering Crystal
Sound, 67.8W to 67.0W
Further, the IAATO secretariat has been tasked with studying the implications
of this proposal, including what observer-based whale strike mitigation
training programs exist within IAATO member bridge teams, and their expected
efficacy, as well as information gaps that limit a more refined and
evidence-based whale strike risk mitigation system.
References
- Pallin, L. J., Baker, C. S., Steel, D., Kellar, N. M., Robbins, J., Johnston,
D. W., … Friedlaender, A. S. (2018). High pregnancy rates in humpback whales
(Megaptera novaeangliae) around the western antarctic peninsula, evidence of a
rapidly growing population. Royal Society Open Science, 5(5), 180017.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180017
- van der Hoop, J. M., Vanderlaan, A. S. M., & Taggart, C. T. (2012). Absolute
probability estimates of lethal vessel strikes to North Atlantic right whales
in Roseway Basin, Scotian Shelf. Ecological Applications, 22(7), 2021–2033.
https://doi.org/10.1890/11-1841.1
—
Ted Cheeseman
[email protected]
www.Happywhale.com
https://www.facebook.com/happywhales/
** know your whales :) **
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