La Sexta: Slow down to save the sperm whales
One of Spain’s main television channels, La Sexta, has today broadcast an enlightening report on the deaths of sperm and fin whales in the Mediterranean due to collisions with ships. The most effective and immediate solution is to introduce a compulsory measure to reduce the speed of ships.
Ship strikes are the main cause of human-induced mortality for these whales, due to heavy shipping traffic, in the north-western Mediterranean, where the Cetacean Migration Corridor is located.
Scientific studies have concluded that the presence of cetaceans is widespread throughout the northwestern Mediterranean. In other words, in this part of the Mediterranean, it is not possible to predict where these large whales will be at any given time, so the option of ships diverting their routes to avoid colliding with them is not feasible. Therefore, the only effective way to avoid fatal collisions between ships and these whales is for ships to reduce their speed.
Numerous scientific studies, including the ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area) Scientific Committee, have identified the reduction of vessel speed as the only effective and immediately applicable measure to protect these large whales of the north-western Mediterranean from collisions with ships, as rerouting is not a viable option in this particular area.
In areas of the world where vessel speed reduction measures have been implemented, it has been found that voluntary measures are rarely enforced or successful. In other words, to be effective, speed reduction measures must be mandatory and applied to all ships without exception. In addition, strict monitoring of mandatory speed limits is essential to ensure compliance.
One of the important advantages of mandatory speed reduction for ships is that it creates a level playing field for all shipping companies, ensuring that they are all subject to the same restrictions and that compliance does not put them at a competitive disadvantage, which cannot be achieved by mere recommendations or voluntary measures.
