We are pleased to announce publication of the following paper:
Redfern, J. V., M. F. McKenna, T. J. Moore, J. Calambokidis, M. L.
DeAngelis, E. A. Becker, J. Barlow, K. A. Forney, P. C. Fiedler, and
S. J. Chivers. 2013. Assessing the risk of ships striking large
whales in marine spatial planning. Conservation Biology 27:292-302.
The abstract appears below. Please contact me
(Jessica.Redfern@noaa.gov), if you would like a copy of the PDF.
Sincerely,
Jessica
Abstract
Marine spatial planning provides a
comprehensive
framework for managing multiple uses of the marine environment and
has the
potential to minimize environmental impacts and reduce conflicts
among users.Spatially
explicit assessments of the risks
to key marine species from human activities are a requirement of
marine spatial
planning.We assessed the
risk of ships
striking humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), blue (Balaenoptera
musculus), and fin (B. physalus) whales in
alternative shipping
routes derived from patterns of shipping traffic off Southern
California
(U.S.A.).Specifically, we
developed
whale-habitat models and assumed ship-strike risk for the
alternative shipping
routes was proportional to the number of whales predicted by the
models to
occur within each route.This
definition
of risk assumes all ships travel within a single route.We also calculated risk
assuming ships travel
via multiple routes.We
estimated the
potential for conflict between shipping and other uses (military
training and
fishing) due to overlap with the routes.We also estimated the overlap between shipping routes and
protected
areas.The route with the
lowest risk
for humpback whales had the highest risk for fin whales and vice
versa.Risk to both
species may be ameliorated by
creating a new route south of the northern Channel Islands and
spreading
traffic between this new route and the existing route in the Santa
Barbara
Channel.Creating a longer
route may
reduce the overlap between shipping and other uses by
concentrating shipping
traffic.Blue whales are
distributed
more evenly across our study area than humpback and fin whales;
thus, risk
could not be ameliorated by concentrating shipping traffic in any
of the routes
we considered.Reducing
ship-strike risk
for blue whales may be necessary because our assessment of the
potential number
of strikes suggests that they are likely to exceed allowable
levels of
anthropogenic impacts established under U.S. laws.
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Jessica V. Redfern, Ph.D.
Ecosystem Studies Program Leader
Marine Mammal and Turtle Division
Southwest Fisheries Science Center
National Marine Fisheries Service
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
8901 La Jolla Shores Dr.
La Jolla, California 92037
phone: 858-546-7117
fax: 858-546-7003
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