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Wednesday, December 20, 2006
(Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA) – Data gathered over 27 years by scientists and researchers at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) contributed to the decision by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency, to alter shipping lanes off Boston to protect whales.
Scientists from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center conducted the research identifying the lower risk corridor. The proposal to alter the lanes was prepared by those organizations, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of General Council. The International Maritime Organization considered the proposal at last week’s meeting in Turkey. The Stellwagen Sanctuary used data gathered by PCCS and other research groups in their report to the IMO. Stellwagen Bank is an ecologically-diverse 842-square-mile National Marine Sanctuary between Cape Ann, Boston and Cape Cod, in which large whales feed and congregate at various times of the year. According to Jooke Robbins, director of Humpback whale Studies at PCCS, the data provided to the Sanctuary are part of long-term PCCS research on large whale species in the Gulf of Maine. Early research in the coastal waters of Massachusetts led to the nomination of the sanctuary in the early 1980s; the Center shares all cetacean sighting data obtained within the Sanctuary for management purposes. “This amounts to more than 110,000 sightings of individuals or groups over the years,” added Robbins. The new rule in Massachusetts Bay will mandate that a vessel steer a wider turn around the tip of Cape Cod once the lane is altered approximately 10 nautical miles (nm) to the north. Vessels approaching Boston will have a narrower lane – from five to four nautical miles – and from two to 1.5 miles – leaving Boston. The new rule will lengthen the current traffic lanes into Boston by ~ 4 nautical miles and narrow them from 5 nm to 4 nm in width. The IMO ruling takes effect on July 1, 2007. “Conservation of these whale species, the largest creatures on earth, is a team effort and we’re proud and encouraged by the IMO ruling,” said PCCS Executive Director Peter Borrelli.
’30 Years of Discovery & Commitment’ The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies was founded in 1976 and is dedicated to researching and protecting marine mammals and marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine, through applied research, conservation, environmental and education programs. Its world-renowned whale disentanglement team operates under a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service. To learn more about whale disentanglement, and our other programs, visit PCCS on the web at: www.coastalstudies.org . # # # PCCS Contacts Theresa M. Barbo Director of Communications 508.487.3622 ext. 103 (o) 774.263.5219 (cell) Jooke Robbins Director of Humpback Whale Research 508.487.3623 ext. 116 | ||
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Collisions are a leading cause of death for large whales, including the critically-endangered North Atlantic right whale.