BLUE CORRIDORS OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN

The report examines the 'blue corridors' of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, from the Bering Strait to the Antarctic Peninsula, highlighting how these migratory routes are essential for whale survival and ocean health. It details cumulative threats including ship strikes, fisheries bycatch, ghost gear, underwater noise, and climate change. The document advocates for the implementation of connected networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to meet the global 30x30 target, while proposing specific regional initiatives like the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) and the Global Oceans Treaty (BBNJ) to protect whales in international waters.

• Whales provide significant ecological and economic value by capturing carbon and fertilizing the ocean, which supports phytoplankton and the global commercial fishing industry, valued at over US$150 billion.
• Ship strikes are a primary cause of human-induced mortality for blue, fin, humpback, and gray whales, with risks concentrated in high-traffic areas such as the US West Coast and the Gulf of Panama.
• Fisheries bycatch and 'ghost gear' (abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear) pose severe risks; the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is composed of at least 46% fishing gear.
• Climate change is altering whale behavior and survival, evidenced by an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) between 2019 and 2022 where 606 gray whales stranded along the North American west coast due to malnutrition.
• The Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) is a regional cooperation mechanism between Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador, with Mexico's Revillagigedo National Park also joining, to protect approximately 500,000 km² of migratory routes.
• In the Southern Ocean, industrial krill fishing overlaps with critical foraging areas for baleen whales, and there is a mismatch between the large-scale management units used by CCAMLR and the actual spatial scale of predator foraging.
• The Bering Strait is a critical corridor for over one million marine predators, but it faces increasing risks from shipping traffic, which nearly doubled between 2009 and 2019.
• Technological solutions such as 'ropeless' (on-demand) fishing and real-time mapping tools like WhaleWatch and Whale Safe are being tested to reduce entanglements and ship strikes.
• The proposed BBNJ agreement (Global Oceans Treaty) is essential for designating MPAs in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), where whales spend up to three-quarters of their time.

APA

Palacios, D., Felix, F., Montecinos, Y., Najera, E., Kelez, S., Samaniego, J., Vasquez, P., Zapata, L., Lancaster, M., Johnson, C., Friedlaender, A., A., C. C., Quintana, E., Bermúdez-Rivas, C., Echeverri, C. V., Casas, J. J., Sepulveda, M., Benites, L. D. B., González, L. F., ... Fernández, J. A. (2023). BLUE CORRIDORS OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/437/5yu9ohroh2_WWF_AU_Whale_Report_digital_preview_spreads_EN.pdf

Chicago

Palacios, Daniel, Fernando Felix, Yacqueline Montecinos, Eduardo Najera, Shaleyla Kelez, Jorge Samaniego, Pilar Vasquez, et al. BLUE CORRIDORS OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN. WWF International, 2023. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/437/5yu9ohroh2_WWF_AU_Whale_Report_digital_preview_spreads_EN.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Palacios |first1=Daniel |last2=Felix |first2=Fernando |last3=Montecinos |first3=Yacqueline |last4=Najera |first4=Eduardo |last5=Kelez |first5=Shaleyla |last6=Samaniego |first6=Jorge |last7=Vasquez |first7=Pilar |last8=Zapata |first8=Luis |last9=Lancaster |first9=Melanie |display-authors=etal |title=BLUE CORRIDORS OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN |publisher=WWF International |date=2023 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/437/5yu9ohroh2_WWF_AU_Whale_Report_digital_preview_spreads_EN.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{palacios2023blue, author = {Palacios, Daniel and Felix, Fernando and Montecinos, Yacqueline and Najera, Eduardo and Kelez, Shaleyla and Samaniego, Jorge and Vasquez, Pilar and Zapata, Luis and Lancaster, Melanie and Johnson, Chris and Friedlaender, Ari and A., Cristina Castro and Quintana, Ester and Bermúdez-Rivas, Christian and Echeverri, Carlos Villamil and Casas, Jose Julio and Sepulveda, Maritza and Benites, Laura D. Benites and González, Lilián Flórez and Bracho, Lorenzo Rojas and Medrano, Luis and Santillan, Luis and Arakaki, Regina Aguilar and Reisinger, Ryan and Pineda, Luis and Pacheco, Aldo and Ávila, Isabel and Pérez-Ortega, Betzi and Acevedo, Jorge and Haase, Ben and López, Roxana Margarita and Sánchez, Cristina and Botero, Natalia and Campbell, Elizabeth and Pacheco, Juan Diego and Pelayo, Lili and Carnero, Romina and De Weerdt, Joëlle and Pozo, Miguel and Frisch, Astrid and Gómez, Stella and Flórez, Lilián and González, Ana María and Angulo, Santiago and Bueno, Paula and Fernández, José Anibal}, title = {{BLUE CORRIDORS OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2023}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/437/5yu9ohroh2_WWF_AU_Whale_Report_digital_preview_spreads_EN.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }