Dear Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Hunt,
As the Ministers responsible for maritime transport and the environment, I am urging you to introduce measures to protect whales from the risk of ship strikes.
A recent report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) shows shipping lanes in the Great Barrier Reef overlapping directly with critically important humpback whale nurseries. Ships travel at speeds that will likely kill a whale in the event of a collision.
With the projected growth in shipping through the reef, and with humpback whales continuing to recover from past whaling, the risk from ship strikes is only going to grow.
The issue of ship strikes is a largely unreported and unrecognised one. Mariners, especially captains of large cargo vessels, may not be aware if they accidentally hit a whale, or they may not be aware of the legal requirement to report a collision.
Please support the measures outlined in the report to reduce the risk to whales:
- introduce ‘whale zones’ in the Great Barrier Reef, where vessel speeds are limited to reduce the risk of fatal ship strikes;
- increase mariner awareness about humpback whale habitats in the reef, the risk of ship strikes and the need to report incidents;
- bring forward a ship strike strategy, to implement these and other measures to protect humpback whales and other marine life in the Great Barrier Reef and waters elsewhere in Australia.
Such measures can also help industry. Some shipping companies are already choosing to slow their ships down because of the benefits it brings for fuel efficiency. These measures can be a win for whales and a win for the shipping industry.
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Sincerely,
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