Authors: Nisi, A., Welch, H., Brodie, S., Leiphardt, C., Rhodes, R., Hazen, E., Redfern, J., Branch, T., Baretto, A., Calambokidis, J., Clavelle, T., Dares. L., Devos, A., Gero, S., Jackson, J., Kenney, R., Kroodsma, D., Leaper, R., McCauley, D., Moore, S., Ovsyanikova, E., Panigada, S., Robinson, C., White, T., Wilson, J., and Abrahms, B
Journal: Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp1950
Media coverage: The Guardian, The Conversation, UW News
Excerpt from UW News:
“Thousands of whales are injured or killed each year after being struck by ships, particularly the large container vessels that ferry 80% of the world’s traded goods across the oceans. Collisions are the leading cause of death worldwide for large whale species. Yet global data on ship strikes of whales are hard to come by — impeding efforts to protect vulnerable whale species. A new study led by the University of Washington has for the first time quantified the risk for whale-ship collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales.”
“In the paper, published online Nov. 21 in Science, researchers report that global shipping traffic overlaps with about 92% of these whale species’ ranges.”
Photo caption: A whale near a large vessel in southern Sri Lanka.
Photo credit: Asha de Vos
