Ship collision risk threatens whales across the world’s oceans

Nisi, Anna C.; Welch, Heather; Brodie, Stephanie; Leiphardt, Callie; Rhodes, Rachel; Hazen, Elliott L.; Redfern, Jessica V.; Branch, Trevor A.; Barreto, Andre S.; Calambokidis, John; Clavelle, Tyler; Dares, Lauren; de Vos, Asha; Gero, Shane; Jackson, Jennifer A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4158-1924; Kenney, Robert D.; Kroodsma, David; Leaper, Russell; McCauley, Douglas J.; Moore, Sue E.; Ovsyanikova, Ekaterina; Panigada, Simone; Robinson, Chloe V.; White, Tim; Wilson, Jono; Abrahms, Briana. 2024 Ship collision risk threatens whales across the world’s oceans. Science, 386 (6724). 870-875. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp1950

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Abstract/Summary

After the near-complete cessation of commercial whaling, ship collisions have emerged as a primary threat to large whales, but knowledge of collision risk is lacking across most of the world’s oceans. We compiled a dataset of 435,000 whale locations to generate global distribution models for four globally ranging species. We then combined >35 billion positions from 176,000 ships to produce a global estimate of whale-ship collision risk. Shipping occurs across 92% of whale ranges, and <7% of risk hotspots contain management strategies to reduce collisions. Full coverage of hotspots could be achieved by expanding management over only 2.6% of the ocean’s surface. These inferences support the continued recovery of large whales against the backdrop of a rapidly growing shipping industry.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp1950
ISSN:	0036-8075
Date made live:	22 Nov 2024 17:00 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538428

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