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A new case of a whale Bryde's (Balaenoptera edeni) struck by a ship in the southwest coast of Ecuador is reported. The whale was found floating around the Guayaquil port facility on the night of 15th April 2009. Photographs taken when the animal was freshly dead show skin lesions and bruising in several parts of the body, particularly on both sides...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... of the epidermis in this area was lost (Figure 2). Large areas with bruises were also photographed on both sides of the head; on the left side the wounded area extended to the flipper (Figures 3 and 4). A deep wound along the distal part of the ventral edge of the left flipper, apparently reaching the bone (radius), could be observed, indicating that the animal suffered a serious trauma on this side. ...
Citations
... It is also likely due to significant and consistent effort by a local research group, over several decades, to systematically compile evidence of vessel strikes. This has included assessments on the cause of death of stranded animals, conducting basic necropsies where possible (Félix et al., 1997;Félix and Van Waerebeek, 2005;Félix, 2006Félix, , 2009Van Waerebeek et al., 2007), and direct reporting of cetacean fatalities caused by vessel strike to the IWC. This success in increasing reported strikes with focused effort, is a pattern which has been seen in all the global vessel strike databases, e.g., Best et al. (2001) with southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) in South Africa found in Laist et al. (2001), andPeel et al. (2018) in their historical database of vessel strikes in Australia. ...
Vessel strike is recognized as a major modern threat to the recovery of large whale populations globally, but the issue is notoriously difficult to assess. Vessel strikes by large ships frequently go unnoticed, and those involving smaller vessels are rarely reported. Interpreting global patterns of vessel strikes is further hindered by underlying reporting biases caused by differences in countries’ research efforts, legislation, reporting structures and enforcement. This leaves global strike data “patchy” and typically scarce outside of developed countries, where resources are more limited. To explore this we investigated vessel strikes with large whales in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), a coastal region of ten developing countries where heavy shipping and high cetacean densities overlap. Although this is characteristic of vessel strike “hotspots” worldwide, only 11 ETP strike reports from just four countries (∼2% of total reports) existed in the International Whaling Commission’s Global Ship Strike Database (2010). This contrasts greatly with abundant reports from the neighboring state of California (United States), and the greater United States/Canadian west coast, making it a compelling case study for investigating underreporting. By reviewing online media databases and articles, peer review publications and requesting information from government agencies, scientists, and tourism companies, we compiled a regional ETP vessel strike database. We found over three times as many strike reports (n = 40), from twice as many countries (n = 8), identifying the geographic extent and severity of the threat, although likely still underestimating the true number of strikes. Reports were found from 1905 until 2017, showing that strikes are a regional, historic, and present threat to large whales. The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) was the most commonly hit species, and whale-watch industries involving small vessels in areas of high whale densities were recognized as a conservation and management concern. Industrial fishing fleets and shipping were suggested to be underrepresented sectors in the database, and are likely high-risk vessels for strikes with whales. We demonstrate the implications of known vessel strike reporting biases and conclude a more rapid assessment of global vessel strikes would substantially benefit from prioritized research efforts in developing regions, with known vessel strike “hotspot” characteristics, but few strike reports.
