The Atlantic Whale Deal project, led by ARDITI - Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação, Tecnologia e Inovação, delivered a major step forward in understanding where large whales and maritime traffic overlap across the Interreg Atlantic Area. By bringing together data and expertise from the partnership, the project has produced comprehensive maps of whale distribution and ship density, which will inform future assessments of collision risk.
The whale distribution maps were developed using a compilation of data collected between 2001 and 2024 from ship and aircraft-based surveys, carried out by project partners and associated partners. The exercise of mapping the relative distribution of fin whales, minke whales, sperm whales, and beaked whales across the Eastern North Atlantic was coordinated by CNRS - French National Centre for Scientific Research. These maps identify areas of higher relative whale density while also highlighting regions of greater uncertainty linked to limited survey coverage.
In parallel, La Rochelle University produced ship density maps for the same area, describing the spatial distribution and intensity of maritime traffic, including major shipping lanes. When viewed alongside the whale distribution maps, they offer an interesting perspective on biological and human-use patterns across the Atlantic Region. Conclusions will be reached in the upcoming months.
The main goal of the Atlantic Whale Deal project is to identify areas of high collision risk and to suggest evidence-based mitigation measures to reduce ship-whale collisions in the Atlantic area.
The whale distribution maps were developed using a compilation of data collected between 2001 and 2024 from ship and aircraft-based surveys, carried out by project partners and associated partners. The exercise of mapping the relative distribution of fin whales, minke whales, sperm whales, and beaked whales across the Eastern North Atlantic was coordinated by CNRS - French National Centre for Scientific Research. These maps identify areas of higher relative whale density while also highlighting regions of greater uncertainty linked to limited survey coverage.
In parallel, La Rochelle University produced ship density maps for the same area, describing the spatial distribution and intensity of maritime traffic, including major shipping lanes. When viewed alongside the whale distribution maps, they offer an interesting perspective on biological and human-use patterns across the Atlantic Region. Conclusions will be reached in the upcoming months.
The main goal of the Atlantic Whale Deal project is to identify areas of high collision risk and to suggest evidence-based mitigation measures to reduce ship-whale collisions in the Atlantic area.
Publish date: 2026-01-22
