Slow Down, Whales Crossing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Sausalito—Seaflow, an environmental nonprofit based in the Marin Headlands working to protect our oceans will set sail on its last two monitoring trips of the summer to the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary on August 2nd and 3rd.  During its last monitoring trip July 12th, Vessel Watch Project volunteers identified 5 large ships and 10 whales and made recordings of noise pollution from large ships. With the help of an onboard naturalist and an acoustician from S.F. State University they will use hydrophones to listen to and record sounds of whales, marine wildlife and the noise pollution from shipping traffic.  Volunteers will also use radar to monitor large cargo ships traveling through our Sanctuaries, watching for potential Cosco Busans, checking ships for Coast Guard violations and reporting back to the public on www.vesselwatchproject.org.
 
“Whales are no competition for massive ships. More and more whales are becoming mere speed bumps on the ‘superhighways on the sea’,” says Robert Ovetz, Executive Director of Seaflow. All three contiguous national Marine Sanctuaries at the mouth of the Golden Gate are used as traffic lanes by thousands of large cargo vessels and oil tankers each year as they enter the Port of Oakland, the third busiest port in California.
 
“Concerned citizens are looking for something they can do to protect the bay, beaches and the ocean from more and worse Cosco Busans. The Vessel Watch Project offers them a hands on way to have an immediate impact by becoming watchful ears and eyes for the ocean,” Ovetz pointed out.
 
The ocean is being damaged by a “death of a thousand cuts” from large cargo vessels and oil tankers—which emit intense low-frequency noise at the same frequency used by baleen whales, seals, sea lions, dolphins and fish, all species that depend on hearing for their survival.  
 
Ovetz notes that “large vessels are the biggest source of ocean noise pollution in the ocean today and it’s growing worse as the level of ocean noise pollution in some areas has been doubling every decade for the past four decades.” Cargo vessels and tankers also contribute to global warming and air pollution in port communities by burning the most foul bunker fuel, and contributing one fifth of inland air pollution.  Additionally, large vessels are one of the leading causes of death for whales across the globe due to striking and killing marine mammals in their rush to deliver goods to port.
 
To address the rapidly growing threat of noise pollution and the multiple negative impacts of shipping in our four California coastal marine sanctuaries, Seaflow is launching its Sanctuaries Campaign to bring effective protections to our sanctuaries and newly planned network of state Marine Protected Areas along the North Central Coast that will reduce and regulate noise pollution in our fragile sanctuaries. So far, Seaflow has been successful in achieving Vessel No Traffic Areas in the newly proposed state MPAs being established along the North Central Coast under the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act.
 
The Vessel Watch Project is a volunteer driven citizen watch program modeled after the Beach Watch movement. Concerned citizens, ocean lovers, surfers, swimmers, beach walkers and many others who use our beaches and ocean for recreation will monitor large vessel traffic in San Francisco Bay and ocean noise levels around our National Marine Sanctuaries and state MPAs.  
 
“With $400.00 dollars of Federal money dedicated to protecting each square mile of this nautical national resource as compared with nearly $19,000.00 per square mile spent to protect and maintain our land-based National parks it’s high time for a squeaky wheel in the ocean,” says Seaflow’s Sanctuaries Campaign Director, Jackie Dragon. The evidence gathered will be used to support Seaflow’s campaign for slower, quieter, cleaner, and safer sanctuaries.
 
Both trips are sold out. To learn about our past trips or to plan or join a fall trip visit www.vesselwatchproject.org or contact Jackie Dragon, Campaigns Director at (415) 229-9354 , Jackie@seaflow.org
 
Media Resources
 
•           Spaces available for reporters
•           B roll
•           Audio recordings of large ships in the Sanctuary
•           Photographs of large ships and marine wildlife from previous Vessel Watch Project trips