Browse e-KNOWBASE

Question: Of Whales And Ships: Impacts On The Great Whales Of Underwater Noise Pollution From Commercial Shipping And Proposals For Regulation Under International Law

Answer: On September 11, 2001 (“September 11”), a tragedy unfolded on the eastern seaboard of the United States that caused the sea to nearly empty of ships. This consequence of the terrible calamity in New York City opened an opportunity for a unique scientific study that may help to save the world’s whales. This rare experiment provides evidence that the undersea noise pollution generated by global commercial shipping slowly, chronically, and cumulatively cuts away at the lives of the great whales, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis (“right whales”). The North Atlantic right whales are baleen whales that come each year to the productive waters of the Bay of Fundy, Canada to nurse their calves and forage for food. During the late summer of 2001, whale scientists from the New England Aquarium were studying the right whales in the Right Whale Conservation Area (“RWCA”) of the Bay of Fundy. The researchers were tracking hormonal changes in the whales, chiefly the hormones associated with stress. The scientists were watching for signs that the whales suffer from the effects of chronic stress, which could offer key information as to why the species has not recovered from its depletion by commercial whaling, despite strong legal and policy protections. The number of individuals in the North Atlantic right whale population is critically low, and the species remains endangered under both U.S. and international criteria. At the same time as the study above, other marine mammal scientists working on an unrelated project were also in the Bay of Fundy, monitoring the acoustic signals associated with the social behavior of the same right whales.

(Source: , 06 Sep 2021)

Source Link: https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj/vol18/iss1/12/