Vessel strikes to large whales before and after the 2008 Ship Strike Rule

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Date
2014-05-01
Authors
van der Hoop, Julie
Vanderlaan, Angelia S. M.
Cole, Timothy V. N.
Henry, Allison G.
Hall, Lanni
Mase-Guthrie, Blair
Wimmer, Tonya
Moore, Michael J.
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10.1111/conl.12105
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Keywords
Whale
Right whale
Ship strike
Speed limit
Ocean management
Ocean zoning
Mortality
Abstract
To determine effectiveness of Seasonal Management Areas (SMAs), introduced in 2008 on the U.S. East Coast to reduce lethal vessel strikes to North Atlantic right whales, we analyzed observed large whale mortality events from 1990–2012 in the geographic region of the “Ship Strike Rule” to identify changes in frequency, spatial distribution, and spatiotemporal interaction since implementation. Though not directly coincident with SMA implementation, right whale vessel-strike mortalities significantly declined from 2.0 (2000–2006) to 0.33 per year (2007–2012). Large whale vessel-strike mortalities have decreased inside active SMAs, and increased outside inactive SMAs. We detected no significant spatiotemporal interaction in the 4-year pre- or post-Rule periods, although a longer time series is needed to detect these changes. As designed, SMAs encompass only 36% of historical right whale vessel-strike mortalities, and 32% are outside managed space but within managed timeframes. We suggest increasing spatial coverage to improve the Rule's effectiveness.
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© The Author(s), 2014. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Conservation Letters 8 (2015): 24-32, doi:10.1111/conl.12105.
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Conservation Letters 8 (2015): 24-32
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