Collisions with ships are a major source of injury and death of the critically endangered northern right whale. In an effort to reduce the number of ship strikes, NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard have developed and implemented Mandatory Ship Reporting systems (MSR). The systems were endorsed by the International Maritime Organization - a specialized organization of the United Nations. The systems became operational in July 1999. When ships greater than 300 gross tons enter two key right whale habitats - one off the northeast U.S. and one off the southeast U.S.-- they are required to report to a shore-based station. In return, ships receive a message about right whales, their vulnerability to ship strikes, precautionary measures the ship can take to avoid hitting a whale, and locations of recent sightings. The reports from ships entering the systems are automatically sorted and stored in a database for subsequent analysis. These data provide a portrait of ship traffic in areas where right whales aggregate and therefore useful in developing measures to reduce the threat of ships striking whales. This report is a summary of the incoming ship reports in both MSR systems from July 1999 to July 2000. Using the ship reports, ship traffic volume and patterns in right whale habitats is characterized.
Ship Traffic Patterns in Right Whale Critical Habitat: Year One of the Mandatory Ship Reporting System
2002
32 pages
Report
No indication
English
Mandatory Ship Reporting System
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