Computing ship strikes and near miss events of fin whales along the main ferry routes in the Pelagos Sanctuary and adjacent west area, in summer

In the Mediterranean, collisions with large ships are considered among the main threats to the fin whale, a species considered vulnerable by the IUCN red lists for the risk of extinction in the Mediterranean.

Since 2007, a network of various entities coordinated by ISPRA (FLT Med Net), has been studying the impacts of maritime traffic along the main sea routes in the Mediterranean, collecting data on collision or near miss events.

A study to quantify the risk of collision with fin whales has just been published in the scientific journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, using the Near Miss Event as a proxy indicator. It is considered a near miss event when the animal is sighted near the bow of the ship without being aware of the passage of the ship.
The study found that in the Pelagos Sanctuary during the summer, 1.55% Near Miss events are recorded out of the total sightings of fin whales (2,775 sightings of fin whales in total).

The study will be extended to other areas of the Mediterranean through the recently launched Life CONCEPTU MARIS project, and the results will be used to implement effective and feasible solutions to mitigate the risk of collision with cetaceans.

_{David, L., Arcangeli, A., Tepsich, P., Di‐Meglio, N., Roul, M., Campana, I., ... & Crosti, R. (2022). Computing ship strikes and near miss events of fin whales along the main ferry routes in the Pelagos Sanctuary and adjacent west area, in summer. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.}_{https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3781}