Vessel strikes as a pressure to marine biodiversity
Marine mammals and other marine megafauna are subject to a variety of impacts related with human activities. Among those, the collisions with vessels (generally known as ship strikes, or vessel strikes) are a significant source of death and severe injuries for large cetacean species, such as fin whales or sperm whales, especially in areas that are subject to intense maritime traffic, such as the Mediterranean Sea. Other large marine vertebrates, such as sea turtles or whale sharks, are also affected by this issue, but limited information is available on the incidence of vessel strikes on species other than cetaceans. Within the EU waters, stranding networks are actively collecting information on the causes of death of cetaceans, seals, and sea turtles that strand along the coastlines, while a number of research projects, NGOs and research institutions that monitor live megafauna in the open sea to assess their abundance and distribution also collect information on the concurrent incidence of threats, such as those related to maritime traffic. This report addresses the issue of vessel strikes as a pressure to marine biodiversity, including information on monitoring, impacts, and potential mitigation measures, through a review of the scientific literature and reports produced within the international agreements in place to deal with marine mammal research and conservation, as well as by directly addressing the institutions dealing with strandings and live megafauna monitoring through a dedicated questionnaire on this issue.
VIGHI Morgana;
2025-04-22
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC141996
978-92-68-26710-3 (online),
OP KJ-01-25-224-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC141996,
10.2760/0669755 (online),
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