Reducing the Threat of Ship Strikes on Large Cetaceans in the Santa Barbara Channel Region and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary: Recommendations and Case Studies

摘要

The following case studies focus on the reduction of the threat of ship strikes on large whales. The first examines the role of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and NMFS in protecting the North Atlantic right whale along the eastern seaboard of the United States. The second case study focuses on humpback whale protections implemented by Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The third case study looks again at humpback whales, this time in their wintering grounds in the Hawaiian Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The final case study examines ongoing efforts by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (the entities comprising the San Pedro Bay Ports or (Ports)), in collaboration with the Marine Exchange of Southern California, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), and shipping industry representatives to reduce air pollution through vessel speed reductions within the South Coast Air Basin, a multicounty area managed by the South Coast AQMD. Each case study includes a summary of the range of research and monitoring projects, education and outreach initiatives and regulatory actions pursued to reduce the threat of ship strikes. The case studies each present an analysis of the relevance of these actions to CINMS and the Santa Barbara Channel region, with similarities and differences explicitly considered. Finally, recommendations for future opportunities are included in each study, along with key contacts and references.