This headline was found online on the USA today cruise ship blog on March 3, 2009. They quoted the Herald Gazette of Rockland, Me, the port where the cruise ship was scheduled to visit in June:
"The news outlet says Royal Caribbean told officials Friday that the 2,446-passenger Grandeur of the Seas wouldn't be visiting as planned because of a recently announced federal restriction that limits vessels to no greater than 10 knots (11.5 miles) per hour in a protective area off Cape Cod. The ship would have had to transit the area to reach the town."
"The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the new restriction in December as a way to reduce ship strikes with right whales. Only around 350 northern right whales exist and ship strikes are one of the leading causes of death for the animals.
The restriction runs from March 1 to July 31."
Obviously with any change in shipping rules and patterns there will be ramifications. I suspect slowing down through right whale habitat was going to cause scheduling problems with the cruise ship and they chose to skip one port. It is unfortunate that the merchants in Rockland and Camden will not benefit from the visit of this cruise ship but in the long run, it is hoped that these changes will save a few right whales from being killed after colliding with these large, fast moving vessels. There is only one reason right whales are endangered today, the unrelenting onslaught from whaling until they were protected. Their recovery has been slowed by deaths from collisions with vessels and complications from entanglement.
It is apparent, however, that some people are unaware that if a right whale is hit by a cruise ship, it will not be a "bump" as was posted by "mzdab3000" in response to this article. The whale would not survive, just as a person would not survive being hit by a fast moving tractor trailer.
This person also went on to say "the first endangered species that needs protection is the working men and women of this country. And worry about the protection of whales second." This is exactly what is getting the humans in deeper and deeper trouble and our actions are now grossly affecting the global natural environment. It is difficult with the current economic situation to loose this potential income but if we can not come to the realization that continual development is not sustainable, we are in for a much wider collapse than loosing one cruise ship visit to one port.
Royal Caribbean still intends to include Rockland in their schedule, but after the speed restrictions are over for this year. It is unfortunate that they could not promote this visit to Rockland during the speed restrictions as their part in potentially saving a right whale but in reality, the probability of a vessel strike is further reduced by eliminating this visit entirely when right whales are likely to be in the shipping lanes in this area.
The U.S. government should be applauded for instituting this speed rule on the recommendation of various groups concerned with reducing the number of right whales killed through collisions with vessels and not criticized.
Moderation about everything is needed to keep safety and order at some point. Its not really that much of a loss to reduce speed to ensure safety or else it would be dangeous for the tourists and those who have cruise line jobs
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