New maps show highrisk zones for whaleship collisions—vessel speed limits and rerouting can reduce the toll

Nov 23, 2024

Imagine you are a blue whale swimming up the California coast, as you do every spring. You are searching for krill in the Santa Barbara Channel, a zone that teems with fish, kelp forests, seagrass beds and other undersea life, but also vibrates with noise from ship traffic. Suddenly, the noise gets louder.