Seal deaths caused by propellers break environmental law, ministers warned

Wildlife groups write to UK and Scottish parliaments seeking a ban on covered propellers blamed for horrific 'corkscrew' injuries

Rob Edwards

theguardian.com, Wednesday 26 February 2014 07.00 GMT

Ministers are breaking environmental law by failing to prevent harbour seals from being sliced to death by ships' propellers, according to a coalition of 13 wildlife groups.

The groups have written to the UK and Scottish governments demanding immediate area bans on the covered propellers blamed for inflicting horrific "corkscrew" injuries on hundreds of seals and porpoises.

Declining populations of harbour seals on the east coast of Scotland could be wiped out, they warn. This would expose ministers to multimillion pound fines for breaching the European habitats directive, that gives the seals legal protection.

Continued

Shipping lanes shifted to protect rare whales

Shippers say the project, spurred by an uptick in propeller accidents, benefits them, too.

By JASON DEAREN The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - Scientists studying the carcass of a 47-foot fin whale that washed up on a beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore last month found the creature's spine and ribs severed, likely from the propeller of one of the huge cargo ships that sail those waters.

There have been many victims of such accidents in recent years as migrating blue, fin and humpback whales have been lured close to California's shore by plentiful krill, the shrimplike organisms they eat. All three species are endangered.

Now, after a two-year effort spurred by the uptick in accidents, federal maritime officials have approved a plan to protect whales in and around San Francisco Bay. It includes rerouting shipping traffic and establishing better ways to track whale locations.

The changes crafted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shipping industry representatives, whale researchers and the Coast Guard will likely take effect next year, after a final review by the United Nations International Maritime Organization.

"In 2010, it really struck home when a female blue whale carrying a calf was found dead on the beach," said Maria Brown, NOAA's superintendent for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. "And blue whales' numbers are so small -- to lose a female and a new whale coming into the population really sent home the message that we needed to look at the whale strike issue."

Continued:  http://www.pressherald.com/news/nationworld/in-focus-mutual-survival-of-the-species_2012-07-16.html