A new interactive tool illuminates the fraught world of the whale, overlaying tracking data for seven species with hazards such as noise and plastic pollution, ocean traffic and offshore construction.
Here, we’ve focused on humpback whales, tracked in orange, and southern right whales, in green. Then we’ve highlighted “shipping and vessel strikes”—that’s the pink haze—to show the degree to which our whales’ traditional migration routes align with shipping lanes.
Rochelle Constantine, a marine biologist at the University of Auckland, contributed tracking data from 30 years of work, and says the tool “helps us understand manage risks to whales into the future”. It’s free to explore at bluecorridors.org
