Whale Atlas: An Easy-to-Use Mapping Tool for Whale-Safer Global Navigation

Advancing global awareness and collaboration around whale protection measures

Whale conservation programs and protection measures centered on reducing shipping impacts on whales exist around the world, including in the Strait of Gibraltar; Hellenic Trench; Bering and Salish Seas; Costa Rica; Gulfs of Panama, Hauraki and Saint Lawrence; and the Canadian Arctic. In 2023 and 2024 the World Shipping Council released a first-of-its-kind Whale Chart Report that compiled and outlined whale protection measures across the globe in order to raise awareness to mariners of opportunities to reduce biodiversity impacts. This included VSR zones, Areas to be Avoided (ATBAs), and Traffic Separation Schemes (TSSs), all aimed at directing vessel traffic to either reduce speeds within or stay away from critical whale habitat areas.

Seeing an opportunity to make this valuable information more interactive and user-friendly, California Marine Sanctuary Foundation (CMSF) and the BWBS team developed an online platform to enhance how mariners access and engage with the information critical to understanding and cooperating with whale protection measures.