Blue whales are vulnerable to cargo ship strikes because they are so used to being the largest animal in the ocean that they often fail to avoid the vessels, a Stanford University biologist has found.
The study published in the latest edition of the journal Endangered Species Research is based on direct observation in the waters off Southern California, where a team used GPS technology and suction cups to track how the giant mammals respond when a vessel is barrelling toward them.
Researchers found that blue whales, instead of diving sharply, responded to approaching ships by descending gradually at a rate of just over a foot and a half (50 cm) per second, and did not try swimming to one side, according to Stanford University.