Speeding boats push critically endangered whales closer to extinction

A dead right whale in New Brunswick, Canada, June 2019. In its nine years it had endured at least one vessel strike and three entanglements in fishing gear. Photograph: Boston Globe/Getty Images

The lives of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are being put at risk by ships speeding in designated “slow zones”, according to a new report.

Only about 340 of the species remain, and collisions with boats are a leading cause of injuries and fatalities as the whales often swim close to the surface, and their dark colour makes them difficult to spot.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a speed rule in the US in 2008 that all vessels 65ft or longer must travel at 10 knots or less in specific zones called seasonal management areas along the US east coast, in order to help protect the whales.

But vessels, from cargo ships to luxury yachts, have been recorded travelling at more than three times the speed limit, according to the report, from the conservation group Oceana. “Speeding boats can and do kill North Atlantic right whales,” said Gib Brogan, campaign director for Oceana. “Well-enforced speed zones are the most effective way to protect whales from this known threat.

As well as boat strikes, entanglement in fishing gear is the other main cause of the whales’ deaths. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP

“Slow zones are comparable to school slow zones to protect children – they act as required speed limits to offer protection from boat strikes where North Atlantic right whales are found.”

The group analysed boat speeds from November 2020 to July 2022 in slow zones along the US east coast, and found 84% of boats sped through them. Cargo ships were the worst offenders, representing up to half of all speeding vessels.

The whales’ only known calving grounds are in the waters off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Boat strikes can cause death or injury from blunt-force trauma or propeller cuts; entanglement in fishing gear is the other main cause of death.

Since 2017, 18 North Atlantic right whale boat strikes have been recorded in the US and Canada, with 12 killed, although the true number is thought to be much higher. Studies have found that limiting boat speeds to 10 knots reduces risk of death by between 80% and 90%.

“We need stronger safeguards and more enforcement to give these critically endangered whales the protection they need,” Brogan said. “If US and Canadian leaders increase protections for North Atlantic right whales from known threats, scientists tell us that the species can and will come back from the brink of extinction.”