Can right whales be part of the ship strike solution?
Apparently not, as too many of them do not respond safely to vessels that may do harm. Much of their lives are spent by necessity in the wrong place at the wrong time; the coastal habitats and migratory routes of right whales are shared with our very high density vessel traffic. While human noise alone has been shown to cause female whales to alter their calls, the whales do not know how dangerous we are. It has also taken us too long to figure that out. Why do these whales get entangled more frequently than other species? They need a lot of food, sometimes eating 18 hours a day in summer; sensory energy may be focused on finding dense enough patches of plankton, especially in lean years, leaving the whales oblivious to much else, like ships or lines. Plentiful resources may bring numbers of whales together to feed in waters with a lot of fishing gear. When feeding they seem oblivious to anything else, grazing for long periods with their mouths agape, almost inviting lines to enter. Wi
