I have posted the following before on LinkedIn in slightly different format, & again now for those who haven’t seen the information.
I am not a marine biologist nor a whale expert. As one who enjoys ocean cruising, I like to learn more (& share the info. I find on the internet) about “bluer” (kinder to marine life) cruise travel.
I was rather alarmed to read of a high & growing statistic of estimated whale strikes worldwide (incredibly, it has been estimated at *up to 20,000 per year) = whales injured/killed by being struck by large ships of any type (& these strikes can also cause significant damage to the vessels).
(*Difficult to estimate nos., since likely a whale sinks to the bottom of the ocean to die & most may not wash up on beaches.)
Whale safety initiatives exist for large ships. Because e.g.: over 10 years recently, gov’t. officials recorded 77 whale strikes in Alaskan waters. Whales seem to be somewhat protected by law on N. American coasts; in other areas of the World has been estimated a much higher rate of whale strikes.
Some of what is being done in Canada/U.S.:
Whale *slower speed zones* where it is either mandated or voluntary to reduce speed to 10 knots speed, or < 7 knots within 1000m of the nearest whale. But recent statistics found that @ times (e.g. along the East Coast), up to 90% are not observing these temporary speed limits. For context, cruise ship cruising speeds in open water when no slowdown is indicated tends to average between 18-22 knots (20 knots = ~23mph). There are also some *mandatory restricted areas* to protect whales.
Hopeful: whale sighting programs/networks (using whale lookouts & whale sensing equipment). Sharing the whale sightings info. helps professional mariners on large vessels keep one another informed, to reduce the risk of whale-ship collisions (e.g. awards were issued to these three cruise ships reporting the most sightings through the Whale Alert Alaska Program in 2022: 1. Norwegian Encore [280 whale sightings!]; 2. Queen Elizabeth ship; & 3. Nieuw Amsterdam.)
Suggestion: We might ask while on an ocean cruise (e.g.: how does this ship/this cruise line avoid striking whales? has this ship ever struck a whale & if so can you please explain…). Because I believe that cruise lines are responsive with (even further) good actions when their passengers express concern.
Two of the websites with further whale information are whalealert.org and whalesafe.com.