The excess speed of a ship sliced many times another rare north Atlantic right whale. Scientist found the body of this two-year-old male whale on the northern Florida coast.
The over abundance of Ship on the route is continuously posing the gravest threat for the existence these endangered creatures. It was not the first incident of its kind but whales are being victimized near the ports. Only few in numbers (365), right whale lives mostly in coastal waters out to the continental shelf and the whales comes in summer off New England and regions farther north.
Amy Knowlton, who studies right whales at the New England Aquarium laments:
Unfortunately we’ve had that many animals die for the past several years…It is really significant for the population, because it cannot sustain this sort of loss annually.
However, National Marine Fisheries Service has made their attempts to save whales by enforcing some laws on cargos to reduce their speeds in areas where right whales swim frequently. But it went in vain as bureaucracy impeded the progress.
Amy Knowlton said:
The process has been impeded because of internal conflict between federal agencies about whether and how to implement such rules, and strong opposition from affected industries who are resisting the need to change business-as-usual to protect this beleaguered species.
Cargo companies defend their side, saying that it is difficult to slow the speeds of near ports, while tour ships have said speed limits would kill their business.
Via: NationalGeographic