Ship ahoy: The analysis found that the number of large, fast-moving vessels travelling faster than 15 knots — considered the greatest ship-strike
threat to whales — has quadrupled since late 2023. Photo: University of Pretoria’s Whale Unit at the Mammal Research Institute
As conflict in the Middle East redraws global shipping routes, scientists are warning that South Africa’s west coast is becoming an emerging danger zone for whales.
Thousands of commercial vessels avoiding instability in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz are rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope, dramatically increasing maritime traffic through some of the world’s richest whale habitats.
New preliminary research presented to the International Whaling Commission by researchers from the University of Pretoria’s Whale Unit at the Mammal Research Institute, Afriseas Solutions and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, found extensive overlap between whale habitats and major shipping corridors around Cape Town, Saldanha Bay and Cape Agulhas.
