Email

The number of blue whales near Los Angeles ports is growing rapidly and conservationists are worried for their safety.  The whales come to Los Angeles Harbor to feed on krill, a staple of the whale’s diet, from May to December.  Researchers are concerned as this is a high traffic area (to be expected at the largest port in the US) and the number of whales feeding in the harbor is “the area of densest concentration close to shore in all of California” according to researcher John Calambokidis.

Not surprisingly, sightseers are coming to witness this incredible sight.  “While this is a unique and exciting opportunity to have these animals out there, it also puts them at great risk,” said Calambokidis.  The krill feast happens to be right in the middle of a major shipping route, setting the whales up for disaster.

In 2007, four blue whales were killed when struck by ships off of the coast of Santa Barbara.  This prompted wildlife officials to begin seeking out the location of blue whales by air, noting their coordinates, and notifying ships traveling in the area of their location in the hopes that they will lower their speeds and avoid a collision with a whale.

Calambokidis believes the whales may meet a similar fate in the LA ports if proactive measures are not taken to protect them, and has led efforts to tag whales with GPS tracking devices.  How, exactly, does one approach tagging a huge whale?  Using an inflatable motorboat, researchers place a transmitter roughly the size of a shoe on the back of a whale using a long pole – this can be accomplished when the animal comes to the surface.  They GPS trackers are bright orange in color, which makes it easy for researchers to find the trackers when they fall off (most fall off twenty-four hours later).

The device tells researchers the exact coordinates of the whale, how deep it dives below the surface, and what it does when a ship approaches.  Researchers have learned that the whales spend a lot of time at the surface each night, making them easy targets in a dark sea, and that they do not appear to react when a ship approaches.  In fact, the whales appear to become curious and swim closer to check out the ships rather than flee from them.

The answer to this problem is not clear.  Those in the shipping industry propose changing shipping routes to avoid the areas the whales feed in, while conservationists are asking the Obama administration to enforce some form of speed limit in these areas.  What is clear: something must be done to protect this endangered species before it suffers to the of no return.

Article Written by Khristen Foss