The United States has taken numerous steps to advise
mariners in the proposed reporting areas about the
presence of right whales, the threats ships pose to the
whales, and precautions that may be taken to avoid
hitting whales. These include:
.1
Brochures, flyers, videos, and other information
on the endangered status of right whales and
precautionary measures have been developed and
distributed to ships using ports in both areas by
port authorities, port pilots, shipping agents, the
Navy, state agencies and others.
.2
Information on right whales and precautionary
measures that ships may take to avoid whales has been
published in regional United States Coast Pilot,
Notice to Mariners, and other publications and on
nautical charts. Steps are being taken to update and
expand right whale-related information in these and
other documents.
.3
Periodic advisories on right whale locations are
broadcast seasonally in both regions over Coast Guard
Broadcast Notice to Mariners, NAVTEX, NOAA Weather
Radio, on the internet and in the northeastern ship
reporting system area only, the Cape Cod Canal Vessel
Traffic Control, and the Bay of Fundy Vessel Trafic
Control. These advisories are based on a combination
of periodic aerial and ship surveys that attempt to
locate right whales so that the information can be
provided to mariners operating in the vicinity of the
whales. These surveys unfortunately locate only a
small percentage of the whales, the information from
them remains valid only for a short period of time
because the whales move, and they cannot be conducted
at night or in bad weather. Despite the limitations
of these surveys, they are the best means currently
available for detecting the location of whales and
providing valuable information on their location.
.1
In the northeast, the survey system is now in
its second year of operation. The surveys were
conducted in tight whale critical habitat from
January to early July. Co-ordinates for right
whale sightings are disseminated by an automated
fax system and made available to all marine
resource users through the variety of
telecommunications networks listed above. Maps of
right whale sightings are also posted on intemet
web pages hosted by the Massachusetts Executive
Office of Environmental Affairs and the National
Marine Fisheries Service which are linked to
other sites. Also a National Marine Fisheries
Service inquiry line in the northeast region
provides right whale sighting faxes to anyone
requesting such information.
.2
In the southeast, the survey system has been
in operation since 1994; surveys are conducted
during the whales' calving season which is
approximately December through March. Information
on sightings from all sources is sent immediately
to the Navy's Fleet Area Control and Surveillance
Facility, Jacksonville, Florida (FACSFACJAX).
FACSFACJAX co-ordinates all sightings coming in
from the states, naval vessels, and all other
sources; eliminates duplicate sightings; and then
forwards the information to the Coast Guard,
which posts information on sightings over NAVTEX
in the form of Notices to Mariners. Information
from survey contractors also relay their
sightings directly to the NAVTEX operators via
fax. To the extent possible, ships underway in
the vicinity of whales also may be contacted
directly via VHF radio from surveillance
aircraft.
