25 



Mr. Shelley, you mentioned, I think, that ship strikes on whales 

 are a, if not the, leading cause of death that we know of; is that 

 correct? 



Mr. Shelley. I do not know if I mentioned that. It is certainly 

 my understanding that a lot of the whales that are observed on 

 shore have either evidence of a strike or are suspected to have been 

 killed by ship collisions. 



Mr. Studds. Do our right whale folks concur with that? 



Mr. Kraus. It is 30 percent of all known right whale mortalities 

 are known to either — primarily ship strikes, and to a far lesser 

 extent, entanglements with fixed fishing gear. 



Mr. Studds. As I understand it, the right whale has the good 

 sense to be an off-season visitor to the Cape; is that correct? 



Dr. Mayo. I think we should add that we do not understand the 

 biology of these animals well enough to sample — in fact, this is 

 true of all large mammals — to sample that very important part of 

 the story, which is the effects of, for instance habitat degradation 

 or things like reproductive success. So, indeed the dramatic ani- 

 mals on the beach are often given the cause of collision or entan- 

 glement. The habitat question remains wholly unanswered. 



Mr. Studds. It just occurred to me that, insofar as ship strikes 

 are a major problem, that might be something we could deal with. 

 I mean, is that something that we should — what would help? If 

 there were an international regime that mandated slower speeds in 

 those areas, would that be helpful? What could we do for that? 



Mr. Kraus. In the Southeastern United States, the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service has coordinated a group of agencies to 

 look at that as a feasible solution to ship strikes in the near shore 

 zone of Northeastern Florida and Georgia. They are in the process 

 of trying to implement something like that. That would probably 

 be effective. 



Mr. Studds. I assume that would require IMO, international 

 action? 



Mr. Kraus. That is my understanding, but I am not certain. 



Dr. Mayo. What I might add, the distribution of these whales, 

 the areas that are so critical, are probably not by any means all 

 established. We simply do not know where they are and what areas 

 ought to be considered for that management. 



Mr. Studds. We cannot just ask them to stay out of the channel. 



Dr. Mayo. Exactly. 



Mr. Studds. Mr. Bigford. 



Mr. Bigford. We are addressing that issue here too. Scott is 

 right. Off the Southeast Coast of Georgia, there has been particular 

 attention, but here also. In the Great South Channel, EPA, the Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service and the Coast Guard are collabo- 

 rating on announcements to mariners to caution people when the 

 whales are in the area and how they may transit with safer consid- 

 eration to the whales, with particular attention to right whales. 



Mr. Studds. Who is hanging out there in the winter besides the 

 whales? 



Mr. Bigford. The greatest attention has been over the fall, I be- 

 lieve. 



Mr. Studds. Not when they are not there yet? 



Mr. Bigford. The notices are directed to the larger vessels 



