Reflections on CLIA Cruiseweek Europe 24

A few weeks ago I attended the CLIA Cruising Week in Genoa to represent Whale Guardians? at the world’s leading cruising industry conference. In our ongoing efforts to prevent unintended ship strikes with whales, we partner very closely with the shipping industry, to divert shipping courses away from known whale areas. After some very successful partnerships with cargo shipping lines we are ready to explore the possibilities of providing simple and safe solutions for the cruising community to be able to save critically endangered whale lives across the globe.

Cruising may not have the best of reputations when it comes to sustainability. So let me start by sharing my first impression of the conference: there is a lot of great sustainability work happening behind the scenes:

• A whole morning at the conference was dedicated to the cruising industry’s role in protecting marine life.?
• There is a lot of work being done to switch to shore power to avoid having to run diesel generators while at dock.
• A lot of research and experimentation is taking place in alternative fuels with a significantly lower carbon footprint.
• Most cruising lines strive to source locally and better support the communities they visit.
• Employment is an important theme for cruise lines, and diversity, inclusion and employee experience were prevalent topics at the conference.
• Reduction of waste, energy and water usage were discussed in many of the talks I attended.

So in general my impression was similar to that of other industries with not-so-good reputations: no industry wants to pollute or be unsustainable. It’s just a matter of leaders managing priorities, daring to collaborate and take some necessary risks, being transparent about the journey, and not accepting no for an answer. I have definitely seen those leaders in Genoa and I’m looking forward to seeing more results.?

Now, let’s zoom in on what I was there for: discuss the cruising industry’s role in taking an active role in preventing unintended ship strikes on critically endangered whales, which is one of the main causes of anthropogenic death for cetaceans and the leading cause for some species of critically endangered great whales.?

I shared the stage with some amazing colleagues from marine protection NGO’s, start ups, cruising lines and interest groups. Under the inspiring guidance of Sasha Gill, CLIA’s Vice President of Environment and Sustainability, we had a good panel discussion. Linden Coppell from MSC Cruises presented her work with Steve Jones from ORCA, who offer a very appealing citizen science approach to collect whale data by direct observation from the bridges of ships, and Nicole Yeomans from NatureMetrics who offer a solution to track whale presence through DNA testing of water samples. Angela Stark of Norwegian Cruise Lines presented her organization’s commitment to protecting marine wildlife and restoring coral. Nicolas Entrup of OceanCare talked about the work he does creating awareness about the state of the oceans and the urgent need to protect them. And Thomas Folegot of Quiet Oceans talked about the great need for a better understanding of underwater acoustics and how to reduce noise pollution. Paul Holthus of the World Ocean Council did a excellent job tying it all together and inviting the ship strike community to come to a joint strategy to serve the shipping industry better and more efficiently.?

Looking back on the presentations and discussions I notice a few things:

• Cruise lines prioritize marine protection because they truly care, but also because it’s a great way to engage their passengers: through citizen science, storytelling, whale watching experiences and on board edutainment, passengers are a vital catalyst of the industry’s sustainability efforts.
• There is a lot of emphasis on data collection, both through human observation and technological solutions. This is great news because data is crucial to save whale lives.
• There is also a lot of emphasis on mitigation strategies like speed reduction. However, Whale Guardians? direct experience with ship captains has taught us that reducing speeds only has a limited effect on reducing ship strikes, and whales struck at reduced speeds can still be killed.
• I was confirmed in our Whale Guardians? strategy: If you want to significantly reduce ship strikes it is best to move the ships away from the whales. In my presentation I showed that this can be done with minimum course diversions, having minimal influence on fuel consumption and arrival time. Optimally, this diversion should be done structurally and planned beforehand, rather than on course, in reaction to the latest sightings. This ensures the route is safe, well prepared and compliant with shipping line and port regulations.
• The ship strike community is active, innovative and effective. However, I do see a somewhat unstructured portfolio of solutions that are being offered to the shipping industry. Some solutions are effective for communication and passenger engagement purposes. Others?collect necessary data on whale presence and behavior. Yet others improve whale habitats by implementing noise and pollution reduction measures. All these solutions are needed and we need to all work together. Yet I missed a clear top three list of strategies to actually reduce anthropogenic whale deaths by ship strikes: 1. remove ships from known whale populations through structured diversions and reroutes; 2. go slower when sailing near known whale populations; 3. when diversion is impossible, avoid night passages near known whale populations.

• As you can see, installing a real time whale monitoring system on ships is not on my top three. Although a lot of attention in R&D, funding and experimentation is going in this exact direction, I believe it’s not the most effective measure, due to the limitations in ships’ maneuverability and ability to respond. Instead, having data-driven, fixed routing measures that separate ships from known whale habitat is both the most effective way to save whale lives and gain the highest level of industry compliance.?

I had a great conference and met many interesting, passionate people, all with the best interest for our oceans at heart. I learned a lot and had many good discussions. I thank my colleagues Michael Fishbach , Delphi Waters and Michael Barbaix for the great opportunity.

Next year, CLIA Cruise Week will be in Rotterdam! I am looking forward to contributing again and continuing the conversations.?