Shipping and offshore industry

The rise in the number of vessels on our seas, as well as the increase in their size and speed has proved fatal to many thousands of whales and dolphins.

Often unable to avoid vessels, whales and dolphins suffer horrific injuries when struck, often dying as a result. In some parts of the world, vessel strikes are so common that they threaten the very survival of endangered species, or populations.

The total number of vessel strikes is likely to be grossly underestimated due to the lack of vessels reporting such incidents, the remote location of the strike, or the inability to retrieve the carcass for necropsy (animal autopsy).

WDCS works to reduce vessel strikes all around the world, including in areas where whales or dolphins are particularly vulnerable, such as the East Coast of the United States.

Vessel Collisions And Cetaceans Evidence is emerging that collisions between vessels and whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans) may be happening more frequently than previously suspected and, in the case of endangered, endemic or geographically-isolated cetacean populations in p 2008-March-23

North Atlantic Right Whales Vessel strikes are one of the most common causes of death for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales off the east coast of the USA. 2008-February-20