Why a Right Whale Slow Zone Is Like Less Mining in Alaska

A right whale can be tough to spot.

The question though is where we make it easier to see them.

Right Whale Slow Zones

In an animated visualization, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) simulated the migratory path of a tagged year-old right whale. Below, the red dot shows that tagged leviathan in one location as it moved through the (blue) large vessel traffic:

With no dorsal fin and a dark color, right whales are almost invisible. Add bad weather and low light and you have a collision waiting to happen. To reduce the chance that large vessels will collide with a right whale, NOAA believes the East Coast needs slow zones during migratory months. In those areas and during those months, vessels that are 35-65 feet can move no faster than 10 knots an hour.

Affecting the East Coast, regulations will kick in by December. Saying they have sighted no right whales in Nantucket Sound, Island leaders requested an exemption:

Our Bottom Line: Opportunity Cost

As the sacrificed alternative–what we did not do–every decision has an opportunity cost. In other words, choosing is refusing.

The right whale population is down to approximately 360 with just 70 reproductively active females. Extinction is a real possibility. Since 2008, NOAA named “14 lethal strikes” from larger and smaller vessels. Adding to the calamitous situation, in 2017, from illness and injury, more than 20% percent of the right whale population died.

With right whale slow zones, Nantucket says the opportunity cost is the speedy travel that island residents need. Currently, the Steamship Authority has large vessels that travel between Nantucket and the Massachusetts mainland at Hyannis. A ferry that transports vehicles and people takes 2 hours and 30 minutes to cross Nantucket Sound while the fast ferry takes an hour. Using the slow and fast ferry laborers go to work each day, residents travel to off-island medical appointments, tourists reach vacation activities. For athletic events, students leave and return.

If ferry speeds are reduced to 10 knots an hour, the fast ferry will take more than 2 hours instead of one. The slow ferry, carrying trucks loaded, for example, with food for the one large supermarket will also need more time. In addition, more time means fewer trips and less vessel availability.

Island leaders say slower boats will cost $100 million while NOAA estimates half that amount. Whatever the amount though, we can be sure that the lost time will be costly in terms of more than money.

Resembling mining in Alaska, we have a classic opportunity cost decision. While one charter boat owner said, “I am committed to protecting whales. But I am also for my business, ” an Alaskan might have substituted “the wilderness” for “the whales.”

My sources and more: Thanks to a front page article in Nantucket’s Inquirer and Mirror for inspiring today’s post. After that, searching for more facts, I discovered this excellent analysis and what NOAA said. However, if you go to just one link do take a look at this whale’s path. I was mesmerized by the animation.