Commercial whaling may no longer pose the threat it once did, but that doesn’t mean whales are safe from ships.
After a long day of touring, which included swimming with a male whale, Rachel Moore was almost certain she wouldn’t go into the water again. However, when she spotted a young whale playing with some dolphins near the surface, she decided she had to make one more dive. “The whale seemed very curious, so we decided to go back into the water for another swim. I’m so glad we did! That whale was Sweet Girl. As soon as we entered the water, she approached us very closely,” Moore shared with IFLScience.
The eye of a whale.
Rachel Moore, a marine photographer, has spent valuable time swimming and interacting with marine animals such as whales and dolphins. On a special day, she had the opportunity to swim with a humpback whale nicknamed Sweet Girl and captured extremely detailed photographs of the whale’s eye. Sadly, just four days later, Sweet Girl was killed by a fast-moving ship in the ocean.
During their first encounter, Moore didn’t manage to capture the best shots of Sweet Girl. However, she didn’t want to miss this rare opportunity and decided to return to the water for more photos. Later, a friend informed Moore and the captain that Sweet Girl might be nearby. Without wasting any time, Moore quickly returned to the water.
“Sweet Girl came up to me and swam vertically in the water; she moved gracefully and showed me her eye. This time, I didn’t swim away. I knew I could trust her, and she could trust me too,” she told IFLScience. For the next five minutes, Moore and Sweet Girl locked eyes, with only a few inches between them. Moore used her 16-35mm lens to take stunning photos, capturing the last rays of sunlight illuminating Sweet Girl’s eye.
These photos were taken near Mo’orea, in French Polynesia. Sweet Girl was a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)—a species that often stops near islands to rest and give birth before embarking on long journeys to Antarctica.
The last rays of sunlight illuminating the eye of Sweet Girl.
However, tragically, just four days after Moore captured her beautiful images of Sweet Girl, disaster struck. Sweet Girl was struck and killed by a fast-moving vessel, likely a ferry crossing between Tahiti and Mo’orea. “It’s heartbreaking that Sweet Girl was killed by a fast-moving ship just four days after our encounter. An investigation is ongoing to identify the vessel that struck her, and an animal protection organization is reviewing the charges. In French Polynesia, whales have legal status, making this case even more significant,” Moore stated.
Following Sweet Girl’s death, a petition was launched requesting the government to reduce ship speeds around the islands. A report from the International Whaling Commission suggested that strikes from ships are an increasing problem for whale populations. According to The Guardian, “the number of ships worldwide quadrupled from 1992 to 2012.”
Whale mortality is difficult to quantify, but reports indicate that approximately 20,000 whales die each year on average. Humpback whales are categorized by the IUCN into subpopulations and are listed as endangered in various regions. For whales like Sweet Girl, Moore hopes the petition can lead to new regulations and stricter enforcement.
“In California, there are no laws requiring ships to reduce speed in shipping lanes, but strong recommendations suggest that passing ships should travel at 10 knots or less in areas where whales migrate and feed. Most vessels comply with these guidelines, and many shipping companies operating in California also operate here. The hope is to encourage these companies to adopt similar speed reduction measures in French Polynesia,” Moore shared with IFLScience.
Moore believes that if these large shipping and cruise companies adhere to the speed reduction recommendations, the government and local operators will be pressured to implement long-lasting changes. She also emphasized that if ships can reduce speed by 200 miles in California, they can certainly do the same for just 1.2 miles in French Polynesia.
The story of Sweet Girl is not only a deeply personal and emotional memory for photographer Rachel Moore but also highlights the challenges and dangers that whales face in their natural environment. It is hoped that conservation efforts and ship speed reduction measures will help minimize fatal collisions and protect whale species from extinction.
