Boston Harbor shifts lanes to protect whales
For the first time in US history, shipping lanes are being changed to protect wildlife.
The busy shipping lanes in and out of Boston Harbor were narrowed and shifted northward yesterday in an effort to lower the risk of rare right whales being killed by ships.
Each year, ships from around the world make about 3,500 trips through the lanes stretching from the southeast of Cape Cod into the port of Boston.
Researchers say the slight northeast rotation to the final stretch of that corridor will take ships outside an area with a high concentration of North Atlantic right whales, reducing the ship strike risk by more than 50 per cent.
With the entire North Atlantic right whale population estimated at just 350, that lower risk is significant, said Richard Merrick, a federal researcher who helped devise the change.
Every animal that dies has the potential for a major effect on the population.
So we save one animal in that area, that's a big deal, said Mr Merrick, who works for the National Marine Fisheries Service Protected Species Branch.
Ship strikes and marine gear entanglements are the top human causes of right whale deaths.
Twenty-eight deaths blamed on ship strikes have been documented since 1972, including eight since 2004.
The shipping lanes have run through the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a vital habitat for whales and other marine life during the summer.
An analysis of 25 years of data of right whale sightings showed the lanes crossed an area with dense congregations of the animals, likely because that is where their food is, Mr Merrick said.
The analysis also showed far fewer whales in an area just north of the lanes.
The change raises concerns about vessel safety because the two lanes - one for incoming traffic, one for outgoing traffic - are each being narrowed by a half mile to 1.5 miles in width, reducing manoeuvring room for ships.
The shift, about five years in the making, also adds nearly four nautical miles and 10-22 minutes to each one-way trip.
Lost minutes can be important because Boston harbour is too shallow for ships to move in and out when the tide is low, said Richard Meyer, executive director of the Boston Shipping Association, which represents shipping companies and port employers.
That could force shippers to leave the harbour prematurely or keep them from entering.
The narrower lanes were approved by the Coast Guard and the International Maritime Organization, and navigators will adjust to them, said Andy Hammond, executive director of the Boston Pilots Association.
The busy shipping lanes in and out of Boston Harbor were narrowed and shifted northward yesterday in an effort to lower the risk of rare right whales being killed by ships.
Each year, ships from around the world make about 3,500 trips through the lanes stretching from the southeast of Cape Cod into the port of Boston.
Researchers say the slight northeast rotation to the final stretch of that corridor will take ships outside an area with a high concentration of North Atlantic right whales, reducing the ship strike risk by more than 50 per cent.
With the entire North Atlantic right whale population estimated at just 350, that lower risk is significant, said Richard Merrick, a federal researcher who helped devise the change.
Every animal that dies has the potential for a major effect on the population.
So we save one animal in that area, that's a big deal, said Mr Merrick, who works for the National Marine Fisheries Service Protected Species Branch.
Ship strikes and marine gear entanglements are the top human causes of right whale deaths.
Twenty-eight deaths blamed on ship strikes have been documented since 1972, including eight since 2004.
The shipping lanes have run through the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a vital habitat for whales and other marine life during the summer.
An analysis of 25 years of data of right whale sightings showed the lanes crossed an area with dense congregations of the animals, likely because that is where their food is, Mr Merrick said.
The analysis also showed far fewer whales in an area just north of the lanes.
The change raises concerns about vessel safety because the two lanes - one for incoming traffic, one for outgoing traffic - are each being narrowed by a half mile to 1.5 miles in width, reducing manoeuvring room for ships.
The shift, about five years in the making, also adds nearly four nautical miles and 10-22 minutes to each one-way trip.
Lost minutes can be important because Boston harbour is too shallow for ships to move in and out when the tide is low, said Richard Meyer, executive director of the Boston Shipping Association, which represents shipping companies and port employers.
That could force shippers to leave the harbour prematurely or keep them from entering.
The narrower lanes were approved by the Coast Guard and the International Maritime Organization, and navigators will adjust to them, said Andy Hammond, executive director of the Boston Pilots Association.