About
Whale Safe North America is an expansion of the vessel analytic and reporting platform of Whale Safe, now covering additional slow speed zones throughout North America that have been implemented to help reduce the impacts of vessel collisions with endangered whales.
Methodology
The tool displays voluntary and mandatory vessel speed reduction zones and shipping activity that is derived from Automatic Identification Systems (AIS); a GPS-like tracking system that large ships use to navigate and avoid collisions. The International Maritime Organization and many national governments require that large vessels use AIS and broadcast their identity, location, speed, and other characteristics. Ground stations and satellites then pick up AIS information, meaning that ships can be tracked throughout the global ocean. AIS data was obtained from Global Fishing Watch and processed to produce vessel tracklines for all AIS-transmitting ships within established slow-speed zones throughout North American waters to determine which vessels and companies best abide by federally designated speed limits that are implemented to protect endangered whales from fatal ship collisions.
The United States and Canadian governments have established voluntary and mandatory slow speed zones to help reduce the impacts that vessels have on whale populations. Each slow speed zone has its own unique active timeframe, regulatory status, speed limits, dynamic or static zone boundary, and vessel metrics. Notices for the slow speed zones are distributed via:
US West Coast California
US East Coast
For each vessel that traversed an active slow speed zone, we calculate the total distance that each vessel traveled in the zone by measuring the distance between consecutive AIS data points. We then use the AIS device’s reported speed over ground to calculate the percentage of that distance that was traveled at or below a speed of 10 knots (18.5 km/h, 11.5 mph), in order to determine the vessel’s compliance/cooperation rate with mandatory/voluntary 10 knot speed limit. The rate is calculated as the percentage of the total distance traveled at or below 10 knots. Vessels are assigned to operators using data from IHS Markit. This is the best available data; however, vessel lists may differ from other sources, and operators are encouraged to contact bosl-whalesafe@ucsb.edu with any suggested modifications to their vessel list. The information and data provided by Whale Safe North America is intended for informational purposes only and must be relied upon solely at your own risk. Using the data sources mentioned above, every effort has been made to accurately prepare ship speed calculations and cooperation scores that reflect the most current available data at the time of their calculation. AIS data may be subject to inaccuracies, incompleteness, or error; therefore, Whale Safe North America cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information, or provide warranties of any kind.
Slow Speed Zones
United States
| Slow Speed Zone Name | Category | Regulatory Status | Vessel Criteria | Speed Limit | Spatially Dynamic/Static |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern California Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) Zone | Vessel Speed Reduction | Voluntary | 300 gross registered tons or larger | 10 knots | Static |
| San Francisco Vessel Speed Reduction(VSR) Zone | Vessel Speed Reduction | Voluntary | 300 gross registered tons or larger | 10 knots | Static |
| Monterey Bay Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) Zone | Vessel Speed Reduction | Voluntary | 300 gross registered tons or larger | 10 knots | Static |
| NE US Cape Cod Bay | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| NE US Off Race Point | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| NE US Great South Channel | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| Mid-Atlantic Block Island Sound | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| Mid-Atlantic New York/New Jersey | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| Mid-Atlantic Delaware Bay | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| Mid-Atlantic Chesapeake Bay | Seasonal Management Area | mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| Mid-Atlantic Morehead City/Beaufort | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| Mid-Atlantic US South | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| Southeast US | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 65 feet or longer | 10 knots | Static |
| Dynamic Management Areas (DMA) | Dynamic Management Area | Voluntary | All vessels encouraged to avoid these areas or reduce speed to 10 knots for 15 days | 10 knots | Dynamic |
Canadian Zones
| Slow Speed Zone Name | Category | Regulatory Status | Vessel Criteria | Speed Limit | Spatially Dynamic/Static |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Static Zone | Static Zone | Mandatory | 13 meters | 10 knots | Static |
| Southern Static Zone | Static Zone | Mandatory | 13 meters | 10 knots | Static |
| Dynamic Shipping Zones A-E | Shipping Lanes | Mandatory | 13 meters | 10 knots | Static |
| Seasonal Management Area 1 | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 13 meters | 10 knots | Static |
| Seasonal Management Area 2 | Seasonal Management Area | Mandatory | 13 meters | 10 knots | Static |
| Trial voluntary slowdown in Cabot Strait | Trial Slowdown | Voluntary | 13 meters | 10 knots | Static |
| Restricted area | Restricted Area | Mandatory | 13 meters | 8 knots | Static |
FAQ
1. Is this a comprehensive list of all slow speed zones designated within North America?
No, all zones included are designated with the main objective of ship collision avoidance. There are additional zones designated for underwater noise reduction and critical habitat that are not currently included.
2. What is the difference between cooperation and compliance?
Cooperation refers to zones that have a voluntary status and compliance refers to zones that are mandatory under law. The score is calculated as the percentage of the total distance traveled at or below the recommended speed.
3. What is meant by static vs dynamic?
Static vs dynamic refers to the spatial dynamics of a zone. In this platform, a zone is considered static if its boundary is predetermined and a zone is considered dynamic if its boundary is spatially determined by acoustic or sightings data. See the slow speed zones table for details on how each zone is classified.
4. Are ships graded when a zone is inactive?
No, we only analyze and display analytics for ships within zones that are active.
5. I’m a shipping company representative and I want to update vessel lists. What do I do?
Vessels are assigned to operators using data from S&P Global’s IHS Markit. This is the best available data; however, vessel lists may differ from other sources, and operators are encouraged to contact bosl-whalesafe@ucsb.edu with any suggested modifications to their vessel list.
6. I’m a shipping company representative and would like to access all the zone information via API. Is that an option?
Coming soon! Contact bosl-whalesafe@ucsb.edu if you would like to access this information in the future.
7. Why aren’t there any zones displayed for Mexico?
At this time, there are not any established slow speed zones in Mexican waters for ship collision reduction.
8. What are the grade breakdowns for cooperation and compliance rates?
| A+ | 99 – 100 % |
| A | 80 – 98.9% |
| B | 60 – 79.9% |
| C | 40 – 59.9% |
| D | 20 – 39.9% |
| F | 0 – 19.9% |
9. Are there globally distributed slow speed zones not included in Whale Safe North America?
Yes globally there are other zones, please see the Whale Chart for additional information.
10. What is the difference between Whale Safe and Whale Safe North America?
Whale Safe displays whale acoustic, sightings, and model data collated into a Whale Presence Rating for the Southern California and San Francisco regions in addition to vessel analytics within those two Vessel Speed Reduction Zones. Whale Safe North America builds off the speed analytics to include other zones, but at this time doesn’t expand the whale data portion.
11. What is the source of the AIS data?
AIS data was provided by Spire and processed by Global Fishing Watch to produce vessel tracklines for all AIS-transmitting ships.
112. What vessels are analyzed for this platform?
Any vessel that has AIS data, fits the size requirement for slowing down (see above tables), and has corresponding operator information in the IHS Markit database. We do not have a comprehensive list of vessels that receive “exempt” status from slow speed recommendations (ie: chartered vessels, government vessels).
13. Are there any other resources for slow speed zones and whale data?
Yes! Here are some additional resources to check out:
