Protecting Whales in a Changing Climate

Climate change is altering ocean conditions, like causing marine heatwaves and warming waters, which affects where whales feed and travel. This often leads to more dangerous interactions with human activities, such as shipping and fishing, increasing risks for already endangered whale populations.Marine protected areas (MPAs), Indigenous-led conservation, and other effective conservation measures, play a critical role in reducing human impacts to whales. Whales are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and West Coast national marine sanctuaries regulations.

Since whales are highly migratory, effective conservation requires international cooperation and the creation of strong networks working towards shared goals and objectives. To respond to the increasing threat of ship strikes on endangered and threatened whales in the sanctuaries, and to learn from colleagues across the Eastern Pacific, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Center for Collaboration on Ocean Climate Change is leading an effort to strengthen international relationships for collaborative protection of these whales, in partnership with Greater Farallones Association.

In 2024, Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries hosted a two-day workshop to convene government representatives from across the Eastern Pacific Basin—from Canada to Colombia—to develop a strategy for international collaboration on ship strike science and mitigation. The workshop aims to create a collaborative plan for marine protected areas from Canada to Colombia to take a regional approach to reduce ship strikes on endangered whales that migrate through these waters. The plan will outline how to understand, communicate, and address these strikes, and identify key actions and science needs. Workshop outcomes will be posted here when available.

This in-person gathering was informed by a prior virtual two-day meeting hosted by Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries with approximately 100 attendees from around the world. The workshop strengthened partnerships across MPAs, Indigenous areas, and other effective conservation area measures, and created a foundation for a network of protected areas poised to address whale conservation in a changing climate, with particular focus on ship strike impacts. To view recordings of this meeting, visit the project webpage.