Whales are dying in the Chesapeake Bay and the Navy is looking for answers
VIRGINIA BEACH -- For the last three years, the U.S. Navy has quietly looked out for whales and other marine mammals along the coast.
Technically, it’s a requirement. To get permits to train at sea, the Navy needs to monitor the effects of its ships on sea life. But while it could spend thousands of dollars on the task, it spends between $3.5 million and $4 million a year along the Atlantic coast and a couple more on the Pacific.
“The requirements for monitoring are pretty generic. We could easily just go out a few times a month, take pictures and check the box for the requirement,” said Joel Bell, a Navy senior marine resources specialist. “The Navy takes this very seriously.”
This year the Marine Species Monitoring Program has been especially important. Four juvenile male humpback whales have washed up dead on local shores, the most recent two weeks ago on an Eastern Shore beach.
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he said. “That’s pretty high compared to other areas.”
Engelhaupt said the situation along Virginia’s coast is problematic because of where the whales spend most of their time. They like the shipping channel leading into the bay for two reasons: One, they like the deeper water and, two, that’s where most of their food source is concentrated.
“That’s a bad place for them to be,” Engelhaupt said.
With hundreds of container ships entering and leaving the bay each week, the chance of a strike is higher. It doesn’t help that humpbacks are slow swimmers.'
