COM 1026.001 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The video points out that the main problem with the Superferry is it's high speed. It can do almost 43 miles/hour which means it can cover over 2 football fields in 10 seconds - so if a whale is spotted, the Pilot will have very little time to react - and the whale can be hit by either of it's two bows. The Superferry Company has agreed to slow down to 25 knots in areas where whales are most common - but at this speed it would still cover almost 11/2 football fields in 10 seconds. The "Whale Avoidance Policy" implies that Cruise ships could be more of a problem to whales than the Superferry because of the large area of water that Cruise ships sweep out - and since Cruise ships are not known to have hit whales in Hawaiian waters, the Whale Avoidance Policy implies that the Superferry should cause few problems to whales. However, the video includes an analysis that demonstrates that this implication is incorrect and that the Superferry is a far greater threat to whales than any Cruise ship. The video also points out that whales killed by the Superferry may often not be detected because they may be eaten by sharks or sink to the ocean bottom. Finally, the video includes new information that high speed ferries - similar to the Hawa i Superferry - have recently killed many Sperm whales in the Canary Islands. Both Sperm whales and mother and baby Humpback whales spend much time at or near the surface. However, many dead Sperm whales have drifted ashore in the Canary islands - probably because they were killed close to shore. This may or may not turn out to be the case in Hawaiian waters.. However, there seems to be no reason that Hawaii's Humpbacks will fare any better from the Superferry than the Sperm whales that have been killed by high speed ferries in the waters of the Canary Islands.