/ A blue whale, which is part of the focus of a program intended to reduce whale strikes and improve air quality offf the California Coast by getting companies to voluntarily slow the speed of cargo ships.
Program notes drops in whale strikes, air pollution
An annual program intended to slow cargo ships off the California coastline to reduce whale strikes, and cut pollution is again reporting positive results.
The “Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies” program compensates shipping companies for voluntarily slowing their ships off the coast. The program started in the Santa Barbara Channel, but has expanded to include much of Southern California, as well as the Bay Area.
Program continues to expand and achieve greater environmental benefits
The partners in an initiative to cut air pollution and protect endangered whales announced results from the 2020 program and recognized the shipping companies that successfully participated, reducing speeds to 10 knots or less in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Southern California region. The program’s new Southern California region extends from Point Arguello (in Santa Barbara County) to waters near Dana Point (by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach).
The voluntary incentive program, called “Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies,” ran May 15, 2020 through November 15, 2020.
Shipping companies receive recognition and financial awards based on the percent of distance traveled by their vessels through the Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) zones at 10 knots or less and with an average speed of 12 knots or less. The 10-knot target complements the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA
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May 11, 2021 01:55 PM EDT
The baby whale was by itself and hundreds of miles from home. On Monday an injured baby minke whale that was helplessly stranded in the River Thames was put down after all hope for its survival was lost by rescuers.
(Photo : Getty Images)
The Discovery
On Sunday the 9th of May, the 3 meters (10-foot-long) whale calf was initially discovered confined inside a concrete lock in Richmond, London. Hundreds of people assembled to observe rescuers float the animal again and drag it out heading for deeper water, but the whale loose its balance from the balloon-like cushion it had been kept in and started to swim back away from the sea (upriver).
April 27, 2021
After swimming over 300 miles from the Pacific Ocean up the Sacramento River and into Battle Creek, the adult fall Chinook salmon gather at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery fish ladder entrance on September 28, 2012 - photo: USFWS Fish and Aquatic Conservation, licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Last Wednesday, the California State Water Resources Control Board (CSWRCB) got bad news.
In 2020, precipitation for much of northern California ranged between 50 and 70 percent of historical average, and last year marked the ninth driest summer on record. Following the driest December and January in recorded history, 2021 is shaping up to be even worse.
This year has been deemed a “Shasta Critical” year based on inflow to Shasta Lake. Contracted diversions to the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project have been reduced by 25 percent across the board, though compliance is voluntary, according to the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors.