Collisions between ships and cetaceans have been reported for a number of species, with large whales (fin and sperm whales) being the most commonly hit. Many of these collisions cause serious or fatal injury to the whales; nevertheless, reported cases likely represent only a fraction of the total incidents.
Tethys has been dealing with ship strike issues since 2001, with the organisation of a first workshop within the framework of the European Cetacean Society’s Annual Conference.
In subsequent years, in cooperation with the International Whaling Commission and ACCOBAMS, Tethys has collected evidence of ship strike events in the Mediterranean Sea, assessing and proposing mitigation measures to reduce the number of incidents and to increase public awareness on this threat.
Any information on ship strikes event should be uploaded on the International Whaling Commission online database to facilitate monitoring of each event.
