Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 25 april 2017

Study: Whale and boat collisions may be more common

PATRICK WHITTLE conservation group said.
Associated Press The group is recommend-
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A ing that marine managers
group of marine scientists develop a strategy for ves-
says collisions of whales sels that transit near whales
and boats off of the New to minimize collisions.
England coast may be Dave Wiley, a research
more common than previ- coordinator for Stellwa-
ously thought. gen Bank National Marine
The scientists focused on Sanctuary, said the paper
the humpback whale pop- could indeed inform regu-
ulation in the southern Gulf lations for federal manag-
of Maine, a body of water ers. Wiley, who was not in-
off of Massachusetts, New volved in the study, said it
Hampshire and Maine. was “troublesome” to see
They found that almost the rate of strikes so high.
15 percent of the whales, Scott Kraus, chief scientist
which come to New Eng- for marine mammals at the
land to feed every spring, New England Aquarium,
had injuries or scarring con- In this undated photo provided by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation a humpback whale bears was slightly more skeptical.
sistent with at least one ves- injuries and wounds consistent with vessel strikes. Associated Press Kraus, who was also not in-
sel strike. volved in the study, said the
The researchers, who pub- Hill, the lead author of the have the ability to nega- mal impact on the blue level of ship strikes could be
lished their findings in the study, who is a scientist with tively affect whale popula- whales. overestimated in the paper
March issue of the journal conservation group Whale tions, and the subject is a Off Alaska, 25 of 108 report- because of the way the
Marine Mammal Science, and Dolphin Conserva- source of some debate. ed whale collisions that oc- authors interpret scars and
said the work shows that tion, in Plymouth, Massa- A 2014 study of 171 blue curred between 1978 and markings on humpback
the occurrence of such chusetts. “Long term stud- whales in the eastern North 2011 resulted in the ani- whales. However, Kraus
strikes is most likely underes- ies can help us figure out if Pacific that appeared mal’s death, according to said the findings are still
timated. They also said their our outreach programs to in PLOS ONE stated that a 2012 report in the Journal valid.
own figure is likely low be- boaters are effective, what modifications to shipping of Marine Biology. “There are a lot of whales
cause it does not account kind of management ac- lanes could “reduce the For the Gulf of Maine study, getting hit by small vessels,
for whales that are killed in tions are needed and help likelihood of collisions with the authors reviewed more and there may very well
ship strikes. to assess the health of the vessels.” But a study that than 200,000 photos of need to be some manage-
“Vessel strikes are a sig- population.” appeared in Marine Mam- 624 individual humpback ment actions around high-
nificant risk to both whales Other scientists have also mal Science that same whales over a nine-year density whale areas,” he
and to boaters,” said Alex studied whether ship strikes year said mitigating ship period to evaluate them said.q
strikes would have a mini- for injuries and trauma, the