ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Boaters are being advised to watch their speeds on the water as reports of whales swimming in active shipping lanes increase.<\/p>\n
This comes as a bowhead whale has been spotted near Valdez multiple times, journeying much further south than their species usually resides. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is pretty historic, pretty unprecedented stuff,\u201d said Richard Steiner, marine conservation researcher and founder of Oasis Earth. \u201cGenerally, there\u2019s 10 to about 15,000 [bowhead whales]. They\u2019ve recovered quite well from whaling days, but they are quintessentially an Arctic whale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steiner said it\u2019s not yet clear why the juvenile male ventured so far outside of its regular range, though there are some theories. <\/p>\n
\u201cOccasionally, these sub-adults, these young animals, will make extraterritorial forays to explore their world,\u201d said Steiner. \u201cIt could be food limitation in the Bering Sea… could be just that these young guys just get lost.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Steiner said that the increasing bowhead population is a sign of environmental recovery, he warned that juveniles venturing south risk entering shipping lanes in the Pacific Ocean. <\/p>\n
Steiner told Alaska\u2019s News Source that conservationists have lobbied for shipping companies to reduce their speed while travelling through endangered areas. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been pretty resistant to that, neither the tanker owners nor the cruise ship owners have been, have stepped up to that opportunity to run their businesses safer,\u201d said Steiner. <\/p>\n
This comes almost a month after a humpback whale was spotted with injuries to its back<\/a> near Willoughby Island, which authorities suspected were caused by a collision with a vessel.<\/p>\n