Explore how organizations use GIS to better understand whale habitats and vessel traffic. California Marine Sanctuary Foundation & NOAA rely on GIS to implement mitigation strategies to protect endangered whales from vessel traffic, such as reconfiguring shipping lanes and establishing vessel speed reduction zones. The California Marine Sanctuary Foundation also performs aerial surveys of endangered baleen whales to improve understanding of their distribution and inform conservation efforts. They used GIS to find areas of high overlap between shipping traffic and whales through space and time.
Detailed Agenda
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Mitigating Maritime Traffic to Protect Marine Wildlife and the Environment
Presentations
- Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies in CaliforniaGlobal shipping is vital to the economy, but high volumes of vessel traffic off of our coastlines have impacts on public health and the marine environment. Large vessels traveling at higher speeds contribute to an increase in emissions, reduced air quality in our coastal communities, increased underwater noise, and fatal collisions with whales. To mitigate impacts, our teams use GIS to implement mitigation measures such as reconfiguring shipping lanes to reduce overlap of ships and whales, establishing voluntary vessel speed reduction zones, and verifying and recognizing vessel cooperation.
, Marine Resource Protection Program Associate, CA Marine Sanctuary Foundation/NOAA Marine Sanctuaries
- Aerial Monitoring of Endangered Whales to Inform ConservationNOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) in Santa Barbara, California, conducts aerial surveys of endangered baleen whales to improve understanding of their distribution and inform conservation. From 2017-2023, systematic surveys over shipping lanes identified whale hotspots through spatial analysis, revealing concentrations in areas not detected by current models. These findings show humpback, fin, and blue whales are present in the Santa Barbara Channel at unexpected times and locations. Integrating this data into management can help reduce ship strikes and improve protections.
, Marine Resource Protection Program Coordinator, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Session Type: User Presentations
Session Level: All Attendees
Access Type: In-Person
Topic: Environmental and Natural Resources Management, Fisheries and Wildlife Management
Esri Products: ArcGIS Pro
Industry: Environment and Natural Resources
Keywords: marine, whales, ship, spatiotemporal
