Faster Ferry Raises Risks to Right Whale

by Bruce McKay

Originally published in the Bangor Daily News on 6/24/98.

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“The fastest car ferry in North America," according to advance billing from its owners, began service from Maine to Nova Scotia this month. The "Cat" will cut travel times by almost two-thirds -- a certain boon to tourism, but also a dangerous risk to a large, benevolent creature that many of those tourists may be hoping to see.

Northern right whales have a dismal history. Whaled to "commercial extinction" by the late 1800s, and despite an international hunting ban since 1935, they were still pursued well into the 1960s. Today, a handful remain in the eastern North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific, perhaps a couple of hundred live in the western North Pacific, and approximately 300 reside along the east coast of Canada and the United States. All are considered in critical danger of extinction.

Despite the end of whaling, northern right whales in eastern Canadian and U.S. waters have shown no signs of recovery in the last 30 years. One strongly suspected reason: Since 1991, of the 17 right whales that have been found dead -- as few as one-third of all carcasses may be actually found -- eight have shown clear evidence of being struck and killed by ships by propeller slashes, crushed skulls or severed tails.

Rarely moving faster than 8 or 9 miles per hour, right whales can live to be at least 69 years old and it takes a calf about eight years to reach sexual maturity. Their incredible size -- sometimes up to 55 feet long, and weighing some 70 to 80 tons -- and their rarity makes them a special sight for whale watchers.

The Northumberland Ferries' " Cat, " as it is currently nicknamed, will traverse the entrance into the Bay of Fundy from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. At its peak, from mid-June to early October, it will make four crossings daily. Where the prior ferry, the MV Bluenose, chugged along at 20 mph, making a crossing of six hours, the Cat -- which can hold 240 cars and 900 passengers -- will travel 50 mph and make the crossing in about 2 1/2 hours.

The problem is that a substantial proportion of the summering right whale population uses that very same strip of water to enter and leave the bay. Right whale scientists and the Marine Mammal Commission are very concerned. Right whales are notoriously slow swimmers -- the main reason why early whalers preferred them -- and they have obvious difficulty avoiding ships. The whales can be difficult for a boat operator to see and avoid as they have a low profile in the water or tend to rest just below the surface. Fog and choppy waters -- common conditions for this stretch -- make the job even more difficult.

The ferry's owners have no doubt not fully considered the potential threat of their boat to right whales, and the economic viability of their service may well depend on its rapid transit time. Are faster boats considerably more threatening to right whales than their slower moving brethren? If so, then at what speed should the line be drawn? There are no clear-cut answers largely because there is little information on right whale behavior and their avoidance reactions to sound and varying boat speeds.

This much is known, however. At such low numbers, even the loss of an individual animal represents a severe blow to right whale's long-term survival. And the Cat foreshadows a new threat -- that of a generation of rapid boats and of increasing ship traffic.

No existing regulation in the United States or in Canada requires an environmental impact assessment or can regulate a boat's speed to protect right whales. The only current recourse would be after the fact: If a whale is struck in U.S. waters, assuming the incident is noticed and reported, the vessel's operators may be fined and even jailed for otherwise disturbing an endangered marine mammal.

A logical, precautionary approach would suggest that, before a license is granted, the ship's owners and government regulators must prove that the speeding Cat would not represent a risk to right whales greater than that posed by slower-moving ferries. Until that can be shown, and given the stakes, a strong case can be made that the Cat's speed should be reduced.

The impetus on government to act rapidly will depend on public concern.