The Vessel Watch Project — a volunteer-driven citizen watch program — will educate trip participants about the marine acoustic pollution produced by large vessel traffic in our marine sanctuaries and the dangers these ships pose to our marine environment. Daylong trips to the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary will bring participants a closer connection to the whales and other marine life endangered by commercial vessels and oil tankers that use our Sanctuaries as a superhighway.

To address the rapidly growing threat of noise pollution in our four California coastal marine sanctuaries, Seaflow is launching its Sanctuaries Campaign to bring effective protections to our sanctuaries and new planned network of state Marine Protected Areas along the North Central Coast that will reduce and regulate growing levels of noise pollution in our fragile sanctuaries. The evidence gathered will be used to support Seaflow’s campaign for slower, quieter, cleaner, and safer sanctuaries.

 On these special trips, in addition to whale watching, with the help of an onboard naturalist and an acoustician from Scripps Marine Laboratory we will monitor the acoustic environment with hydrophones; listening to the natural sounds of the sea, including whales, and the noise pollution generated by large vessels. We will also monitor the speed of vessel speeds transiting through the sanctuary.

To sign up for the August 2nd trip go to www.vesselwatchproject.org or contact Jackie Dragon at SeaFlow.