Sailors urged to report collisions with whales and other marine life - Practical Boat Owner

Sailors urged to report collisions with whales and other marine life - Practical Boat Owner

Laura Hodgetts July 15, 2025 0 shares The sailing community is being urged to participate in an anonymous global survey to document collisions at sea between sailing boats and whales or other marine life. Dolphins swimming beside sailboat © Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing Credit: © Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing TAGS: Unlike the shipping sector, there is no requirement for systematic reporting for strikes at sea within the sailing world, so interactions with orcas, whales and other marine life often only appear in the news cycle when they impact a boat’s sporting performance. Therefore, according to the latest data from the marine strike log maintained by the Marine Mammal Advisory Group (MMAG), collated from sources such as the International Whale Commission, and media reports, more than 50% of all collisions reported result in damage to the vessel and/or its crew, as well as possible injury or death to marine life. Crewmember of the 11th hour racing team crew watching dolphins swimming beside sailboat © Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing Whale collision hotspots In 2008, Ritter published the first comprehensive paper on collisions between sailing vessels and marine life. The MMAG is seeking to build on this data to reflect the true scale of collisions, to create a ‘global strike log’ to identify collision hotspots and ‘reduce the risk together’. Building a global strike log database is “key to understanding where the hot spots are that need to be avoided”. Founded in 2022, the MMAG is a coalition of stakeholders, which collaborates across the marine industry to advance technical innovations, improve risk assessments, encourage live reporting and citizen science, build education and outreach initiatives. Dolphins swimming beside sailboat © Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing Damian Foxall, professional offshore sailor, co-founder and coordinator of the MMAG, said: “We’d like to thank in advance everyone who takes the time to complete this survey. “Seafarers are the eyes and ears of the scientific community, by sharing our observations we build a better understanding of our impact on ocean life and can use this knowledge to inform better practices as we shift our role from being ocean users to ocean stewards.” The MMAG is requesting all sailors who have experienced a whale collision or strike at sea with other marine life to report their experience via the survey link. And for everyone to share this survey with sailing friends, crews and clubs: mmag.world/marine-strike-log-survey PBO collision avoidance software gear test Collision avoidance software Ben Meakins puts Raymarine’s new Lighthouse AIS update through its paces in Southampton Water uk-cetaceans-Alamy_T6X10H_357054212_618690081 UK cetaceans: How to spot and identify whales and dolphins from your boat One spring day when I was a teenager, we were sailing across Poole Bay as we had many times before.… Oceanis 393 sinks off Portugal after orcas pulled off the rudder. Credit: Augustin Drion ‘Orcas are playing with the yachts’ – experts’ theories after sinking Marine biologists say evidence suggests that orca interactions with yachts are ‘playful’ rather than aggressive, but at risk of becoming…