The number of documented whale collisions off the East Coast speaks to the wisdom of slower speeds for ocean-going vessels. The Sierra Club NJ Chapter has joined Congressman Frank Pallone in calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Coast Guard for vessel speed monitoring and enforcement.
The enlargement of the Port Elizabeth docking facilities has made it the second largest in the world. Traffic into and out of the port has increased 65% since 1998. At the same time, the food stocks whales like to eat have been swimming closer to shore, luring whales into the path of these giant ships. This is believed to have added to whale mortalities.
The right whale population off the East Coast is already on the precipice of extinction, and protections for these magnificent creatures are desperately needed. The NJ Chapter is calling for robust enforcement of the 2008 vessel speed rule to protect marine wildlife.
“It is no news that marine wildlife is severely threatened,” said Sierra Club NJ Chapter Director Anjuli Ramos-Busot. “We understand how the ocean’s ecosystems are drastically changing because of climate change. Water temperatures, currents, salinity, and prey distribution all have a direct impact on our marine ecosystems and wildlife.
“There is plenty of evidence showing that vessel strikes are overwhelmingly harming and killing marine wildlife. Eliminating the leading culprit of these deaths can be achieved by simply following the existing law and adapting to the current climate dynamic in our oceans,” she said.
The Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act required NOAA to create the vessel speed rule in 2008 mandating all vessels 65 feet and longer to travel at a speed of ten knots or less in certain times and places to prevent the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale from being struck and injured or killed.
“The vessel speed rule must be enforced, strictly and properly, for it to be effective,” Pallone said.