Recommendations to Avoid Whale Strikes off the Coast of San Francisco, CA

Simone Barley-GreenfieldMaren Farnum

Rich RainerDyAnna Rodriguez

Michael Stiller

Regulatory Setting: LocalPorts:

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

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

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

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/

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)

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.

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?

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

Approaches to VSRVoluntary

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

Relevant Agencies

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

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 programs2. 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

Questions?