Whale of an idea
Marine Atlantic to protect whales
Your journey to and from Newfoundland and Labrador might now take a little longer as Marine Atlantic prepares to take preventative measures to protect the right whale.
The crown corporation is working with Transport Canada in monitoring the endangered whale’s migration period through the Cabot Strait, which could take place in the next few weeks.
One of the measures expected to be taken is a reduction in vessel speed from 14 to 10 knots.
That’s the same speed the government implemented this summer to help reduce the risk of ships striking the whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
“From our perspective we recognize everyone has to do everything they can to protect the right whales,” said Darrell Mercer, a Marine Atlantic spokesman.
“That’s why we are in constant contact with Transport Canada. We understand that we are sort of the bottleneck of where they are coming in and out of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They will eventually cross through the Cabot Strait and that’s when we will have to do our part to try to protect them.”
A committee has been formed within Marine Atlantic to look at potential impacts of slower speeds and the resulting longer crossings will have on their schedule.
Mercer said nobody knows when the right whale will migrate through the Cabot Strait but they do know it is going to be in the next few weeks.
Whale sightings by Marine Atlantic vessels are continuous, although right whale sightings are less common, according to information obtained from Shri Madiwal, Marine Atlantic’s director of fleet operations.
“Having said that they migrate through the Cabot Strait, so they are not really hanging around that area they are kind of just moving through,” said Mercer.
“We do travel between Port aux Basque and North Sydney and we certainly will do our part to slow our vessels to try to give them every opportunity to move through safely.”
While Marine Atlantic is only working with Transport Canada on their plan, they did note that Transport Canada is engaged with other groups that have right whale expertise.
“We also know they have ongoing aerial surveillance keeping track of where the whales are located. They give us weekly reports as to where it seems the whales are migrating at any period of time.”
“It’s a bit of a learning experience for everybody and that’s why we can’t put any concrete dates on when changes are going to happen because it all results on the monitory that Transport Canada is doing,” he said.
“Once they start to see some movement south then they will start to make some decisions as to whether they adjust the speed zones that the vessels will have to abide by.”
So far public notice of the potential for crossing changes has only been covered in a blog posting on the Marine Atlantic website.
For now, Mercer said they simply want to let the public know that these changes are coming even though exact details are not yet known.
“Just be prepared that something could impact our schedule down the road in a period of time. Right now it is too early to put any details around it.”