Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



and boats to use extreme caution when transiting right 

 whale critical habitat, migratory routes, or high-use 

 areas. Unless engaged in disentangling a whale, the 

 Coast Guard also directed its vessels to avoid ap- 

 proaches closer than 500 yards (457 m) to rights 

 whales and 100 yards (91 m) to all other whales. In 

 non-emergency situations. Coast Guard vessels are to 

 reduce speed as appropriate in these areas and to 

 consider additional speed reductions when a whale is 

 sighted from the vessel or known to be within five 

 nautical miles of a ship's position. 



To date, other than promulgating a rule prohibiting 

 approaches closer than 500 yards to right whales, little 

 has been done to encourage similar operating proce- 

 dures by commercial vessels. Therefore, on 12 

 December 1996 the Commission wrote to the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service recommending that it under- 

 take a project to work with major shipping companies 

 operating in ports adjacent to key right whale habitats. 

 In part, it recommended that the Service develop 

 cooperative agreements with key shipping companies 

 to identify and implement voluntary measures to 

 reduce the risk of hitting right whales by doing such 

 things as posting lookouts to watch for right whales 

 and providing extra time so that vessels can use 

 slower speeds when transiting areas in which right 

 whales are most likely to occur. To provide extra 

 transit time, the Commission suggested exploring 

 options to adjust travel schedules or slightly increase 

 speed on voyage legs through waters where right 

 whales are not likely to occur. The recommendation 

 was endorsed by both implementation teams and the 

 Commission offered to provide partial funding for the 

 project. The Service attempted to obtain partial 

 funding from the Canada Department of Fisheries and 

 Oceans to include ports in Canada, but the Depart- 

 ment was unable to do so and the Service deferred the 

 project late in 1998. At the end of 1998, it was the 

 Commission's understanding that the Service would 

 provide support for the effort in 1999. 



Early Warning Systems — In ocean areas where 

 right whales and ships are most likely to interact, 

 cooperating agencies and research groups have orga- 

 nized early warning systems to alert transiting ships of 

 the presence of right whales and the need for special 

 precautions. Two such systems have been established 

 along the U.S. Atlantic coast: one for the popula- 



tion's calving grounds off Florida and Georgia and the 

 other for right whale feeding areas off Massachusetts. 

 Both systems rely on reports of whale locations from 

 aerial survey teams and opportunistic vessel-based 

 observations. The sighting locations are relayed to 

 area ships as quickly as possible through a regional 

 sightings clearinghouse. 



The southeastern early warning system, begun in 

 1994, is a cooperative, multi-agency effort that has 

 been strengthened steadily over the past four years. 

 Its core is an aerial survey program conducted under 

 contract with the New England Aquarium and jointly 

 funded by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast 

 Guard, and the Navy. The surveys are flown daily 

 (weather permitting) over a core area in the northern 

 half of the calving grounds from 1 December to 1 

 April. They follow 22 tracklines spaced 3 nmi apart 

 and extending perpendicular to about 17 nmi offshore 

 from about St. Augustine, Florida, to 10 miles north 

 of Brunswick, Georgia. Supplemental surveys funded 

 by the National Marine Fisheries Service are flown 

 one or more times a week north, south, and seaward 

 of the core area by the Georgia Department of Natural 

 Resources and the Florida Department of Environ- 

 mental Protection. In addition, the Navy has support- 

 ed surveys of offshore waters. 



As noted above, the Navy's Fleet Activities Con- 

 trol and Surveillance Facility serves as the regional 

 clearinghouse for all sightings by survey teams as well 

 as by other sources, such as vessel operators and the 

 public. It immediately relays confirmed sighting 

 locations to the Coast Guard, port pilots, and Corps 

 of Engineers dredges, as well as to Navy vessels. 

 The Coast Guard, in turn, broadcasts sighting loca- 

 tions to commercial vessels via a radio teletype 

 communication system (NAVTEX) and voice radio 

 (Broadcast Notice to Mariners). Through close coordi- 

 nation, the time between most initial sightings and the 

 broadcast of advisories to ships has been reduced to 

 about 5 to 15 minutes. The role of the Navy's Fleet 

 Activities Control and Surveillance Facility in dissemi- 

 nating sighting reports has been particularly important 

 in improving the efficiency of the regional early 

 warning system. The voluntary acceptance of this 

 task and the diligent work by its involved staff have 

 made the Facility a much appreciated and indispens- 

 able component of the regional effort to protect right 



