August 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Today, NOAA Fisheries announces a new “Right Whale Slow Zones” campaign asking all vessel operators to slow down or avoid areas where right whales have been detected to reduce the risk of vessel strikes to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. This effort is complementary to other NOAA vessel strike reduction efforts. It brings together sighting and acoustic detection information to inform mariners of right whale presence and encourages vessels of all sizes to slow down in areas where right whales have been detected.
We would like to thank our North Atlantic right whale Northeast U.S. Implementation Team, our partners and advisers on right whale recovery activities from Maine through Virginia, who identified this opportunity to enhance vessel strike reduction efforts using acoustic information.
Working together we can make a difference for right whales. Read more about our new campaign in our web story.