A voluntary protocol which asks ships to slow down to avoid whale strike appears to be working.
There have been no recorded deaths of Bryde’s whales in the Hauraki Gulf in the last two years.
Previously, an average of two whales a year died from being hit by ships transiting the gulf, but the last whale death from ship strike was reported in September 2014.
The voluntary initiative was brought in three years ago by the Ports of Auckland and the shipping industry.
“The mortality rate of this small population of whales was probably unsustainable prior to the shipping industry’s commitment to slow down, but now these whales have a more certain future,” said University of Auckland’s Dr Rochelle Constantine.
Average ship speed has dropped from 14.2 knots to around 10.5 knots.
