Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies

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Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Shipping line participants in BWBS range from companies with a handful of vessels to the largest shipping companies in the world.

Established in 2014, Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies (BWBS) helps ship operators and companies reduce the environmental impact of shipping along the coast of California. BWBS independently verifies cooperation rates, quantifies the benefits of participation, and provides recognition of program participants to encourage the adoption of more sustainable shipping practices. The program monitors the speeds of hundreds of vessels that pass through Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) zones each year during the VSR season (designed to coincide with peak ozone and endangered whale feeding and migration periods), and engages the industry to slow down to reduce the risk of fatal ship strikes and impacts on coastal communities. Together they account for over 90% of all cargo traffic that passes through the Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) zones. Ambassadors include consumer goods, brands, retailers, ports, and logistics companies committed to helping reduce ship strike risk to endangered whales, marine noise and air pollution, and regional greenhouse gas emissions. Companies that ship with one or more VSR participants are eligible.

Join us for the launch of *Unscripted Voyages* - Santa Barbara Maritime Museum’s new after-hours improv series!BWBS sinc...
10/09/2026

Join us for the launch of *Unscripted Voyages* - Santa Barbara Maritime Museum’s new after-hours improv series!

BWBS sincerely this opportunity to use humor, storytelling, and live performance to share more about the incredible world of whales and the collaborative work underway in the Santa Barbara Channel (and all along California’s coast) to protect 🐋 and our air quality.

🐋 The event will blend live comedy, ocean-inspired storytelling, science, conservation, and audience participation.

🐋 Performers include Edi Patterson, Dan O’Connor, Stephen Kearin, Kari Coleman, Ryan Smith, and Lisa Fredrickson, with special collaborators John Ryan, biological oceanographer with Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Dr. Lindsey Peavey Reeves, Program Manager with NOAA ONMS Sound Monitoring, and Holly Lohuis, marine biologist and Co-Director of the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area

📅 Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Link in bio for tickets!

🗞️2026 Mid-season results are out, with a record-breaking 63 and lines joining the program this year. 🐋 Thus far, pa...
10/06/2026

🗞️2026 Mid-season results are out, with a record-breaking 63 and lines joining the program this year.

🐋 Thus far, participating vessels have voluntarily transited at whale (and clean air) safer 10 knots or less for more than 310,700 nautical miles!

Highlights ⬇️ (including how top performing lines are tracking this season):

> Star Sapphire (90% Cooperation Rate): MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, CMA CGM, COSCO SHIPPING (North America) Inc. / COSCO SHIPPING, Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp., OOCL, APL, The CSL Group Inc., ConocoPhillips - Polar Tankers, Scorpio Group, Swire Shipping, Liberty Maritime, Neptune Pacific Direct Line, Swire Bulk, Virgin Voyages, Toyofuji Shipping Co, NAVARONE S.A., MMS Co, and MSC Cruises.

> Sapphire (75%-89%): Maersk, MOL-ACE, NYK Line, Yang Ming, Hapag-Lloyd, Marathon Petroleum, Wan Hai Lines, OSG Ship Management, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Eastern Pacific Shipping, BP Shipping, and Anglo-Eastern Ship Management.

> Gold (50%-74%): ONE, K-Line, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hyundai Glovis, MT Maritime, Tsakos Shipping and Trading, Gulf Energy Maritime Shipping, Precious Shipping, UNISEA, Hakuyo Kisen, and NHAT VIET Transportation.

> Cargo owners and ambassadors who elected to provide detailed shipment data at the mid-season mark and are tracking towards awards include: NX GROUP , The Block Logistics The Block Logistics, Inc., and Honeylove Honeylove.

> The 2026 season expanded the California VSR zone by 115%, for a total coverage of 55,461 square miles of important whale habitat and to protect coastal communities affected by air pollution.

> Enrolled fleets represent 80% of container vessels and 78% of car carrier vessels transiting California waters.

> Preliminary season data indicates that vessel speeds across adjacent waters - including off the coasts of Oregon and Mexico, and offshore of the expanded boundary - have remained stable, suggesting no shift toward higher speeds in surrounding areas.

Congratulations and *thank you* to the many shipping companies and program ambassadors leading the way on responsible shipping!

❓Did you know that benefit from vessel speed reduction efforts too? 🐋BWBS usually focuses on the benefits to large bal...
09/30/2026

❓Did you know that benefit from vessel speed reduction efforts too?

🐋BWBS usually focuses on the benefits to large baleen whales from vessels slowing down, but of course there are many other incredible species (like orcas 🫍!) that benefit from the safer & *quieter waters* off California.

📣In the 2025 season, participating vessels (like this container ship!) that passed through the California VSR zones were - on average - 5️⃣ decibels quieter than vessels traveling at higher speeds through the area.

🫍That makes a big difference for acoustically sensitive animals like killer whales, who rely on sound to navigate, communicate, and find their prey.

From wildlife photographer 𝘼𝘿𝘼𝙈 𝙀𝙍𝙉𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙍 who captured this image ⬇️

“This is CA51C “Bumper,” named after his affinity for bumping boats as a young one. The CA51’s are California’s most iconic pod of killer whales, beloved by whale watchers and researchers alike. They are called “the friendly pod,” due to their friendly behavior, often making close passes by boats and interacting with whale watchers. The family of 4 has enjoyed the Santa Barbara Channel this fall, with at least 5 confirmed sightings in the past two weeks.”

09/17/2026

❓Did you know ❓

Gray whales have the longest migration of any mammal.
(In some cases ~14,000 miles!)

🗺️ And, the BWBS Vessel Speed Reduction Zone only covers a portion of that.

Gray whales have recently experienced an Unusual Mortality Event presumed to be linked to a steady reduction in Arctic sea ice that has decreased their critical food sources, altered where they forage along their migrations, and brought them into higher risk areas that overlap with vessel traffic.

BWBS’ Rachel Rhodes joined the Gray Whale Science Symposium. Dr. Anna Nisi ’s work: “Gray whale habitat suitability and spatial and temporal overlap with vessel speed reduction program along the US West Coast” was presented alongside other research efforts and observations around trends in gray whales’ health, feeding, distribution, and population dynamics.

Takeaways:

▶️ The existing BWBS zone has a high degree of overlap with gray whale habitat as well as patterns of gray whale occurrence.

▶️ BWBS’ VSR season timeline has historically been designed to prioritize timelines of peak threatened and endangered whale presence in the region. It’s not optimized to protect gray whales during the early months of the year when migrating through the zone.

▶️ Expansion of VSR measures across additional gray whale migratory habitat would offer additional protection benefits and warrants consideration.

photo & video credit: 𝘼𝘿𝘼𝙈 𝙀𝙍𝙉𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙍

09/01/2026

Earlier this year, BWBS connected with Golden Gate in the Marin Headlands, and their team is excited to engage their students in understanding local, tangible opportunities to protect whales right off their coast. (Rodeo Beach in Golden Gate National Rec. Area is a prime viewing location where students can look out and see the coming and going of large ships that are participating in the BWBS program). NatureBridge is the largest educational partner of National Park Service and they welcome nearly 30,000 young people a year to their environmental science programs located in four national parks across the country.

NatureBridge’s Golden Gate campus even features a skeleton from an individual that was tragically killed by shipstrike and washed ashore at Ocean Beach many years ago. The skeleton is now a well-known teaching tool and a highlight for NatureBridge students and park visitors alike.

Huge thanks to the NatureBridge team and their students who wanted to write postcards to express their appreciation for these *voluntary efforts* made by shipping lines to protect whales 💙 and to encourage the industry to keep it up!

08/27/2026

Battle of the Blues now available with captions in:
Simplified Chinese & Traditional Chinese (as well as full translation in Spanish and Portuguese!)

➡️Watch to learn why:

> They were almost hunted to extinction;

> They are so critical for the health of our oceans and their productivity (thanks Holly Snyder Lohuis Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area);

> See stunning footage by 𝘼𝘿𝘼𝙈 𝙀𝙍𝙉𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙍 (who directed this short film);

> What leading scientists and researchers know about why ship strikes pose such a risk to blue whales (thanks Cascadia Research Collective); and

> How companies can step up to protect them !

Read more in comments ⬇️

08/11/2026

Blue Whales & Blue Skies exists to reduce the risk of ship strikes to whales, reduce underwater noise pollution & protect public health by protecting air quality.

For 🐋, high shipping traffic by large vessels in important migratory and feeding habitat is one of their top threats.

Unfortunately, this fin whale (struck several years ago off San Diego 💔) - helps us understand why.

Watch to see how the force of a large vessel can sever the vertebrae of one of the largest animals to ever grace our planet, and why scientists study the (rare) carcasses that come ashore to learn more, and help more people understand what can be done to protect our ocean and its inhabitants.

Thank you to BWBS’ Kelly Tseng and Danielle Alvarez, Kayden Minton and Professor John Hildebrand for sharing thoughts and to Scripps Instn. of Oceanography for leading this excavation project!




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