Ottawa must act to reduce ship speed in Cabot Strait and protect right whales: report

Transport Canada implemented voluntary speed limits in the Cabot Strait, asking ships to slow down to 10 knots during four time periods between April 2020 and November 2021.

Data from an ocean conservation group shows that for the past two years, most ships travelling through a key migratory route for the endangered North Atlantic right whales have not been adhering to voluntary speed restrictions imposed by Transport Canada.

In its latest report released today, Oceana Canada says the federal government must make speed limits in the waters of the Cabot Strait, located between Cape Breton and Newfoundland, mandatory and season long.

The group says there are only about 330 North Atlantic right whales left in existence, and the federal government must do more to protect them from being struck and killed by ships.

Transport Canada implemented voluntary speed limits in the Cabot Strait, asking ships to slow down to 10 knots during four time periods between April 2020 and November 2021.

Oceana Canada tracked vessel speeds during those periods and discovered that 68 per cent of ships travelled at speeds above 10 knots and 43 per cent travelled at speeds exceeding 12 knots.

The group says the government should impose mandatory speed limits at the beginning of April, before the whales travel to that part of the Atlantic.

Kim Elmslie, Oceana’s campaign director, said in an interview Monday that slower speeds increase the chances of whales surviving impacts with ships. In parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence where speed limits are mandatory, the lethality of ship strikes is reduced by 86 per cent, she added.

“What we’re seeing is that the compliance is not compatible with what they have in their mandatory areas,” Elmslie said.