Avoiding Ship Strikes: Implementing a Voluntary Vessel Speed Reduction Program

The Problem 

Ship strikes are one of the leading causes of death for many marine species - including blue whales, humpback whales, fin whales, and sea otters - often due to ships traveling at speeds above 10 knots (or more than 11.5 miles per hour), which makes it difficult for animals to move out of the way. Importantly, each of the aforementioned species are listed as endangered, meaning every fatal ship strike brings them closer to extinction.

Every year, thousands of ships come in and out of California, many traveling across feeding and breeding grounds, nurseries, and many other places that should be a safe haven for these animals. Ships can be especially dangerous when they cross paths with animals who have never encountered such a threat before, such as juveniles, leaving them vulnerable, panic-stricken, and without knowledge of how to protect themselves. 

On top of this, ships also emit chemical pollutants that can be dangerous not only to ocean ecosystems, but to nearby coastal communities. They are estimated to give off tons of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxides per day, which contribute to acid rain. Acid rain introduces large amounts of these chemicals into the ocean, ultimately lowering ocean pH and contributing to ocean acidification with myriad impacts for marine life.

In addition, shipping vessels add their fair share of noise pollution to ocean environments. Acoustic masking occurs when man-made sounds disrupt an animal's ability to understand or detect sounds such as in mating, communication, navigating, etc. The low frequency sounds of shipping vessels can mimic those of certain animals, often confusing the individuals that hear them. Noise pollution can also disrupt feeding, the ability to respond to threats from predators, and cause stress, which can lead to stunted growth, low fertility, and weakened immune systems. 

A Hopeful Solution

Of course captains don’t want their ships to strike animals or cause harm, but they also have deadlines to meet, making them much more likely to travel at dangerous speeds. And while these ships carry necessary cargo and products that make our lives easier, we’re seeing too many marine species and even coastal communities suffering from the consequences.

This is why The Otter Project is leading the environmental community to rally support for Assembly Bill 953, which aims to implement a voluntary statewide vessel speed reduction (VSR) and sustainable shipping program. This bill will require the Ocean Protection Council to implement the program before January 1st, 2026, with the goal of slowing ships down in order to reduce chemical and noise pollution and the risk of fatal ship strikes on whales in particular. Part of the goal is to build upon an already existing VSR program, Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program, which has been working since 2014 to lay a solid foundation on this issue in the Santa Barbara Channel, where one of the largest concentrations of blue whales can be found in the world.

The new program will be scaled to a statewide level in California and incentivize companies to incorporate sustainable shipping practices by keeping their vessels below 10 knots in VSR zones, which makes for safer, cleaner, and quieter waters for marine life and also helps with ship fuel efficiency. Better fuel efficiency also means less harmful chemicals being emitted over the same distance traveled. While this may seem like a large feat to accomplish, we believe that when everyone involved works together and makes the necessary changes, we can make our coast a much safer place for both our marine species and coastal communities. 

Check out a past blog about a near shipping disaster in April 2022, which gives an example of why vessel traffic management and responsiveness is so necessary for the well-being of our coast: https://theotterproject.org/blog/a-near-disaster-for-our-furry-friends.