Seasonal Management Areas for North Atlantic Right Whales, U.S. Atlantic Seaboard

NOAA's Seasonal Management Area GIS data delineates shipping zones along the U.S. Atlantic seaboard where speed restrictions are implemented at certain times of the year. The regulations, established by 73 FR 60173 on October 10, 2008, aim to reduce deaths and serious injuries to endangered North Atlantic right whales from ship collisions. The sunset clause for these rules was removed on December 9, 2013.

Use Cases

• Modeling ship strike risk for whales based on seasonal speed restriction zones.
• Analyzing regulatory compliance and shipping traffic patterns based on defined management areas.
• Visualizing spatiotemporal conservation measures for marine mammal protection.

Strengths

• Data originates from the authoritative NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service.
• Regulations are explicitly cited with Federal Register references (73 FR 60173, 78 FR 73726).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely compiled for regulatory implementation and enforcement.

Time Range

Regulations effective from October 10, 2008, with sunset clause removed December 9, 2013.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-14 23:05:25.096143; freshness should be verified.

Geography

U.S. Atlantic seaboard.