These concerns include expanding port development and the corresponding emergence of a “shipping superhighway” through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area.
Today, many whale species are vulnerable to collisions with vessels, known as ship strikes, and unfortunately these collisions often result in severe injury or death.
Globally, both the number of ships and the speeds at which ships are able to travel have increased in the last few decades and this means a greater risk of ship strikes and injuries to whales, particularly where shipping activities overlap with critical whale habitat.
For those whales that are not killed immediately, a collision can result in horrific and serious injuries. Examples of such injuries recorded in live and stranded animals include severed spines, fins and tails, major internal trauma and haemorrhaging and propeller wounds. A whale that has sustained a serious injury from a ship strike may suffer a slow, painful death.
For this report CCG partnered with the International Fund for Animal Welfare to analyse shipping traffic and demonstrate the danger this presents to humpback whales that come to the reef to give birth and nurse their young. The analysis shows ships travelling directly through areas of critical importance to humpback whales and travelling at speeds that are likely to kill whales in the event of a collision.
Report:
