Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Michael<br />
Thompson<br />
Geographer<br />
<strong>Stellwagen</strong> <strong>Bank</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Marine</strong><br />
<strong>Sanctuary</strong>
638 square nautical miles / 2,180 square kilometers
Baleen<br />
Whales<br />
SBNMS<br />
Minke<br />
Humpback<br />
Right Whale<br />
Fin<br />
NOAA – NCCOS (Figure excerpted from Pittman et al., 2006)
<strong>Stellwagen</strong><br />
is<br />
1 of the Top 10<br />
Places in<br />
The World<br />
to go<br />
Whale<br />
Watching
Commercial Shipping<br />
502 vessels/yr<br />
3,413 transits/yr
AIS SITES AIS<br />
Automatic Identification System
Large Commercial<br />
Traffic (>300gt)<br />
1 Year<br />
~200,000,000 records<br />
over 1 billion records now<br />
Boston<br />
Boston<br />
New York
Ship Strike<br />
<strong>Stellwagen</strong><br />
<strong>Bank</strong> NMS<br />
Locations inferred from Jensen &<br />
Silber 2003<br />
Approximate<br />
Distribution of<br />
Ship Struck<br />
Baleen Whales<br />
along the<br />
Eastern<br />
Seaboard of the<br />
U.S
High<br />
Low<br />
Traffic Pattern<br />
AIS Point Density (~Vessel Use)
Tanker Cargo Tug & Tow<br />
Vessel<br />
Stats<br />
Cruise Research All Vessels
Whale<br />
Watching<br />
Vessels<br />
& AIS & VMS
Baleen Whales:<br />
Whale Watch<br />
Database<br />
1979 – present<br />
WCNE<br />
&<br />
PCCS<br />
~250,000 sightings
Whale Watching<br />
Sighting<br />
versus<br />
2001/2002<br />
Standardized<br />
Survey
Large <strong>Marine</strong> Mammal<br />
Entity Relationship Diagram
Baleen Whale<br />
Distribution
Baleen Whales:<br />
Whale Watch<br />
Database<br />
1979 – present<br />
WCNE<br />
&<br />
PCCS<br />
Red = highest density<br />
Blue = lowest density<br />
Identify a better<br />
route?
Old TSS<br />
Humpback<br />
Right<br />
Fin<br />
Minke<br />
41,742<br />
402<br />
9,365<br />
10,233<br />
Total = 61,742<br />
number<br />
Whale on<br />
bow
New TSS<br />
Humpback<br />
Right<br />
Fin<br />
Minke<br />
7,864<br />
71<br />
2,286<br />
1,701<br />
Total = 11,922
Old TSS<br />
Humpback<br />
Right<br />
Fin<br />
Minke<br />
Total =<br />
61,742<br />
41,742<br />
402<br />
9,365<br />
10,233<br />
Baleen Whales:<br />
Whale Watch<br />
Database<br />
New TSS<br />
Humpback<br />
Right<br />
Fin<br />
Minke<br />
Total =<br />
11,922<br />
7,864<br />
71<br />
2,286<br />
1,701<br />
81% reduction in risk
36%<br />
48%<br />
16%<br />
Mud<br />
Sand<br />
Gravel<br />
Sediment<br />
Classification<br />
Gravel<br />
Sand<br />
Mud
35%<br />
16%<br />
49%<br />
Mud<br />
Sand<br />
Gravel<br />
Sediment<br />
Classification<br />
Sand<br />
Mud<br />
Gravel
So What About<br />
Right Whales?<br />
Photo taken under NMFS Permit No. 605-1904-01
Right Whales<br />
Old TSS<br />
915<br />
New TSS<br />
385<br />
58% reduction<br />
in risk
22 minutes 9 minutes
Success – July 2007<br />
• NOAA Office of<br />
Protected<br />
Resources<br />
• NOAA Northeast<br />
Fisheries<br />
Science Center<br />
• NOAA General<br />
Counsel for<br />
International<br />
Law<br />
• Right Whale<br />
Consortium<br />
• Massachusetts<br />
Port Authority<br />
• Shipping<br />
Industry<br />
• USCG<br />
• IMO
Real-time<br />
Detection<br />
www.listenforwhales.org<br />
www.listenforwhales.org
Thank You!<br />
Mike Thompson
Habitat type<br />
draped over trip<br />
density (above)<br />
Total VTR Trips<br />
1996-2009<br />
(below)
NOPP<br />
Acoustic Research<br />
Ship sounds mask<br />
RW vocalizations
Popup<br />
Deployment Design<br />
8 Nautical Mile<br />
Equilateral<br />
Triangular Separation<br />
with<br />
5 Nautical Mile Radius<br />
85%<br />
Coverage<br />
5 nm<br />
8 nm
Research & Research<br />
Duplicate<br />
Sightings<br />
Research<br />
&<br />
Whale<br />
Watch<br />
A sighting was considered a potential<br />
duplicate sighting if it occurred within<br />
one nautical mile of another sighting<br />
for a given species and if it occurred<br />
within one hour of one another.<br />
Whale Watch & Whale Watch<br />
><br />
<<br />
unless<br />
unless<br />
Random<br />
=<br />
Random<br />
=<br />
Unique Sighting<br />
Duplicat<br />
e
Reconciling uses<br />
within a <strong>National</strong><br />
<strong>Marine</strong> <strong>Sanctuary</strong><br />
(CMSP)<br />
<strong>Sanctuary</strong> Ecological Research Area (SERA)
Vessels<br />
Sounds<br />
Whales
IFAW – AIS Right Whale<br />
Seasonal Management<br />
(220 letters sent in 2010)<br />
Vessels transiting SBNMS in one year
Change language