letter by Duane Erway to Hawaii Superferry on 29 June 2007
Hawaii Superferry
500 Ala Moana Blvd. Suite 300
Honolulu, HI 96813
Attn: Terry O'Halloran
Dear Mr.O'Halloran:
Your letter of 17 April 2007 (Attachment 1) gives totally erroneous arguments that this new class of service will not be a problem for marine mammals with respect to underwater noise. In fact, the Hawaii Superferry is likely to generate noise levels that constitute Level B harassment * based on the sound spectrum of a similar ship (the Austal Euroferry).
I am therefore concerned about the possible financial risks to both Hawaii Superferry and the State of Hawaii unless Hawaii Superferry slows down to a safe speed, from the standpoint of noise.
I and many others are also concerned about injuries or deaths that constitute Level A harassment**. Scientists contacted in preparing this letter pointed out that fast ferries going up to 37 knots have caused injury or death to marine mammals throughout the world. See a brief summary of "Vessel Collisions with Whales: the Probability of Lethal Injury based on vessel Speed" by Vanderlaan and Taggart at:
http://web.mac.com/leetepley/iweb
Despite promises from Hawaii Superferry, the Superferry will have no effective way to avoid hitting whales at the speeds planned. This poses even greater financial risks to both Hawaii Superferry and the State of Hawaii in view of the large fines that can be imposed.
Level B Harassment from Noise*
Disturbing marine mammels
Two problems show that you are misleading yourself and others on noise.
1) Meaningless Comparisons with tugs and container ships
Comparison to these particular ships does not tell us whether the new service will violate noise harassment rules of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The 7 knot tug with a noise signature of 170 dB and a dominant tone at 1,000 Hz is probably violating the MMPA/ESA. If the Superferry is this bad, it will be violating the MMPA/ESA. (The barge operator needs to be cited and fined if the violation continues. The high frequency of the dominate tone, 1,000 Hz, is likely due to air from a cavitating propeller and the problem might be largely eliminated with redesign of the propeller. (See cavitation items in Ref 1 index.) The container ship putting out 181 dB at 7.7 to 33 Hz is probably not violating the MMPA/ESA since humpback hearing is very poor in this region. However, if the Superferry puts out this much noise at frequencies above 200 Hz it will quite likely be violating the MMPA/ESA because humpback hearing is estimated to be 1,000 times (30 dB) more sensitive at 200 to 2000 Hz than at 10 Hz, according to Navy documents. (See Ref 2.)
2) Meaningless Comparisons With the fast ferry analyzed by Dr PeterTyack
The sound spectrum for your sister ship, the EUROFERRY (Attachment 2) , bears no resemblance to the sound spectrum of the fast ferry considered by Dr. Tyack.
The Euroferry is almost identical to the Hawaii Superferry. It is of the same semi-swath design and is powered by the same type of propulsion system. Most of it's energy is in the 100 to 600 HZ range based on its sound spectrum. (See Ref. 3.) This is the range where humpback hearing is most sensitive and where humpbacks are most likely to be disturbed. Since the Euroferry closely resembles the Hawaii Superferry, its sound spectrum is likely to be quite similar. However, the Euroferry sound spectrum includes no source level calibration. Underwater noise measurements need to be made to determine the maximum speed the Superferry can travel without causing Level B harassment.
While Hawaii Superferry argues that it is not required to make noise measurements, this is information that any responsible operator should have before launching a new service in waters protected by the MMPA and ESA. Hawaii Superferry needs to know the maximum speed that the Superferry can travel without causing Level B harassment to protect Hawaii Superferry and the State of Hawaii.
Noise measurements can be made at no cost as the ferry journeys to Hawaii by contacting Blair Kipple - Naval Surface Warfare Center or Chris Gabriele - Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. See offer at:
http://www.nps.gov/glba/naturescience/acoustics.htm
This will take more time and require more fuel than a direct route from the Panama Canal to Hawaii. However, it is appropriate in view of your lack of credible evidence that the Superferry will not cause a noise problem for whales.
Level A Harassment**
Injuring or killing marine mammals & sea turtles
Going 25 knots in shallow water and up to 37 knots in deep water will certainly cause injury and death to various species of marine mammals as fast ferries have elsewhere. See summary of "Lethal Injuries to Whales from High Speed Collisions" at
http://web.mac.com/leetepley/iweb
This calls for a "Take Permit" which Hawaii Superferry has so far avoided, totally ignoring the advice of the Humpback Whale Sanctuary Managers.
Hawaii Superferry argues wrongly in the Whale Avoidance Policy (WAP) that cruise ships are more likely to kill whales than the Superferry. Although cruise ships sometimes do kill whales, inter-island cruise ships in Hawaii are far less likely to do so than the Superferry for the following reasons:
1) The Superferry has two bows compared to a single bow for a cruise ship. This fact alone doubles the probability of a fatal collision. However, Hawaii Superferry argues in the WAP that the large "swept area" of a cruise ship greatly increases the collision probability relative to the Superferry - but Dr. Tepley demonstrated in his video "Will the Superferry Kill Humpback Whales" that the large swept area is of little significance because, unless a whale is struck directly by the bow, it will receive only a glancing blow and is likely to survive the collision. The video is available at Dr. Tepley's website at:
http://web.mac.com/leetepley/iweb
2) Even at it's slowest planned speed of 25 knots in areas where humpback whales are abundant, the Superferry will travel at a speed much faster than the actual speeds of inter-island cruise ships. This is demonstrated on the above web site at the link "Superferry vs. Cruise Ships". Dr. Tepley used the "Pride of the Aloha" as an example. He calculated an average speed of only 13.3 knots for a typical one-week trip between the islands. In contrast, he calculated an average speed of over 35 knots for the Superferry in the non-whale season. This is a striking difference in speeds.
I believe that Hawaii Superferry and Humpback Whale Sanctuary Managers look upon the WAP as a "work in progress" to be modified with experience to minimize the number of whale strikes as time goes on. If the WAP is a "work in progress", Humpback Whale Sanctuary Managers and the NMFS Branch Chief needs whale strike data on this new service to decide whether the representations in the WAP are correct and how the WAP needs to be modified to minimize injuries and death of marine mammals.
Direct data on whale strikes could be obtained by installing hydrophones and accelerometers on each of the superferry's bows to continuously record collisions and provide real time information to the Superferry Captain with continuous recordings sent to Hawaii Superferry headquarters, NMFS Branch Chief and Humpback Whale Sanctuary Managers at some agreed time interval. In addition continuously recording video cameras pointing back from the stern would confirm that a whale was actually struck and that the Superferry did not hit a log or some other form of debris.
Requests of Hawaii Superferry
I respectfully request Hawaii Superferry determine what speed you can safely travel without exhibiting Level B harassment from noise.
I respectfully request Hawaii Superferry work with Sanctuary Advisory Council to provide redundant sensors and video cameras to detect and record strikes of humpback whales.
I respectfully request Hawaii Superferry work with NMFS to provide redundant sensors and video cameras to detect and record strikes of monk seals, pilot whales, sperm whales and other marine mammals and sea turtles. Sincerely,
Duane Erway
P.O. Box 2807
Kailua-Kona, HI 96745
* Level B
harassment is defined as, "any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance which has the potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering."
** Level A
harassment is defined as, "any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance which has the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild."
Ref. 1. Marine Mammals and Noise, Richardson et al., Academic Press,1995
Ref. 2. Final EIS for SURTASS LFS SONAR, January, 2001, Volume 1, page 1-21, Figure 1-4, "Marine Mammal Audiograms"
Ref. 3. "Fast ferries in the strait of Gibraltar. study of their potential impact on cetaceans populations.", In European Research on Cetaceans 15. Proc. 15 th Ann. Meeting European Cetacean Society, Rome, Italy 6-10 May 2001. E. Urquiola Pascual, et. al. FIG 3, Spectrums of fast ferry Euroferrys. Paper at:
http://www.circe-asso.org/files/Urquiola_roma_2001.pdf |
