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76 | SHARING SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS

CETACEANS AND MARITIME TRAFFIC
Speed up to slow down

In the context of its commitment to support cetacean conservation in

the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, ACCOBAMS presented and
discussed potential solutions for reducing the impact of shipping traffic
in the Agreement area.
© Greg Lecœur

How can shipping traffic be rerouted in critical areas PROMISING RESOLUTIONS
like the recently designated Particularly Sensitive
Sea Area (PSSA) in the north-west Mediterranean? Helping shipping traffic reduce its ecological footprint
How can we work with shipping companies and port in the marine area covered by the Agreement was the
authorities to improve understanding of and manage topic addressed by Susana Salvador, ACCOBAMS
ship collisions with cetaceans? On 21 March 2024, Executive Secretary, who began by showing a
in the Salle Princesse Alice at the Oceanographic map identifying the habitat of fin whales and sperm
Museum, eight speakers and ambassadors focused whales, which are particularly vulnerable to ship
on reducing the ecological footprint of shipping, strikes. “It’s also a very sensitive sea in terms of noise
including ship strikes and noise pollution. Hosted pollution,” she explained, going on to present all the
by ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation noise-based resolutions that have been adopted by
of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea the Agreement’s 24 member states following years
and contiguous Atlantic Area), the event considered of negotiations. One of them, Resolution 7.13, puts
the issue from all sides, from data collection on the forward separating shipping and cetacean routes.
ground to policy-making and conservation efforts. Regarding the next steps, ACCOBAMS will continue
its advocacy role at international ocean meetings. “We
The event opened with an account by photographer want to take these resolutions and speak to different
Greg Lecœur, who has been devoting his time to segments of the maritime industry in Barcelona,
capturing the living world of the Mediterranean since Marseille, Monaco, Nice and Genoa, supported by
he had an unexpected, pivotal encounter with a Greg Lecœur’s expedition”, concluded Salvador.
group of pilot whales around his small six-meter boat.
Having documented the interaction between large
boats and marine mammals as part of a Pelagos
Initiative expedition, the photographer was preparing
to immerse himself in the sea again to record IN
plankton migration, another phenomenon relating to FIGURES
the lifecycle of cetaceans.
7 resolutions on noise and 2 resolutions on
ship strikes have been adopted by the 24
ACCOBAMS member states.