Contact: Scott Smullen FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8/2/96
The most endangered whale in U.S. waters, the northern right whale found off the Atlantic coast, may soon be protected by a 500-yard buffer zone being proposed to reduce human-induced disturbance and help prevent boats from hitting the slow-moving animal, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.
The 500-yard buffer zone proposal is part of a larger initiative for greater protection of right whales. Nine of the approximately 300 remaining animals have been killed since June of last year, and several of these animals were reported to have died from injuries resulting from collisions with ships. Normally, only one or two right whales die each year from this or other human interaction.
Agency biologists say human-induced disturbances may be impeding the recovery of endangered right whales. As such, the protective measure prohibits vessels, aircraft or swimmers from approaching within 500 yards of a right whale to avoid disturbing or harassing the animal. Vessels are not allowed to approach right whales from a head-on direction, once the whale is sighted, and measures to avoid the whale are required if one surfaces near a ship. Currently, whale-watching guidelines ask boaters to keep at least 100 feet away from all whales.
The 500-yard buffer zone should only minimally affect whale watching operations as whale watching focuses mainly on humpback and finback whales, not the right whale. The proposal will not affect whale-watching operations in Massachusetts state waters where similar regulations are already in place. A few New England whale-watching operations may target right whales in the early spring when other species are less likely to be in the area, and these operations may need to be delayed or focus on other marine mammals early in the year. But the financial consequences are not expected to be significant. Fisheries service officials say whale-watching operations are well aware of the precarious status of the right whale and have been very supportive of actions taken by NOAA in the past to help protect this critically endangered species.
Endangered since 1972, the Atlantic northern right whale is found off the eastern seaboard, where it makes a yearly trek from feeding grounds off the Maine-Nova Scotia coast to Florida waters where the animal breeds and nurses calves. Historically, right whales numbered in the tens of thousands. A right whale generally swims an average of two to three miles-per-hour, making it the slowest of the large whale species and therefore more susceptible to ship collisions. Compounding the problem, shipping lanes run through the right whales' calving and feeding grounds, making their annual migration path a perilous journey. Right whales can be seen within one mile of the coast along much of this annual journey.
Commercial shipping traffic, military vessels and recreational boaters all operate in the right whale's habitat. Therefore, the proposal would require these vessels to follow the protective measures, maintain an extra vigilant lookout, and reduce speed, if necessary, to avoid the animal. Exceptions are provided for emergency situations and where approaches are authorized.
Comments on the proposal should be sent to: Chief, Marine Mammal Division, Office of Protected Resources (F/PR), National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Comments should be postmarked before Nov. 5, 1996.
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