3/6/2006

Beetle bad… Whacks whale!

Jet ferry apparently hits whale, some passengers injured
NAGASAKI— A jet ferry collided with an object believed to have been a whale on Sunday off Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, slightly injuring some passengers, Japan Coast Guard officials said. A total of 90 passengers and seven crew members were on the 162-ton Beetle No. 3….
…Jet ferries connecting Busan and Hakata have experienced similar accidents in the past, and JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Inc. has since taken preventive measures such as playing sounds that whales dislike using speakers…MORE…

For thousands of years whales and ships never collided….until now. In fact, dophins and smaller whales have enjoyed riding the bow wave of ships and sailboats. However now, the JR “Beetle” jet ferry the travels between Japan and Koreanseems to be smashing into whales regularly. Maybe it’s just a question of the high speed of the jet ferry which about 45 knots (51 mph or 83 km/h). Maybe it’s “Beetle” jet ferry is cutting across a whale ocean expressway.
Weird.

Anyway, visit the engrish webstite of “Beetle” jet ferry here. More about Japan ferries, their long history (and decline) read: “OVERVIEW OF JAPANESE FERRIES.”

An interesting feature of the JR “Beetle” jet ferry is that it’s possible to buy an unlimitted 5-day pass that will take all around the island of Kyushu and ALSO the ferry to Korea for only 22,000 yen (about $188 USD) which less than a price a few days worth of Japanese rail tickets (generally expensive).

UPDATE:

Ferry again hits whale off Kyushu
Crisscross – News -Monday, March 20, 2006 at 06:58 EST
FUKUOKA — A ferry again hit a sea animal believed to be a whale during operations Sunday in the sea off Kyushu but nobody aboard was injured, the ship’s operator said. It is the fourth incident this year of a collision between a ferry linking Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Busan, South Korea, and an animal believed to be a whale. “ ...more...

The real story comes out….
Mass whale deaths tied to U.S. Navy sonar : Science & Nature : Features : The Daily Yomiuri, April 18, 2006
The CRS report comes amid a growing number of reports of whales colliding with ships. In the latest incident, more than 100 people were injured Sunday when a hydrofoil collided with an object believed to be a whale off Cape Sata in Kagoshima Prefecture…..
…..Although the U.S. Navy has limited the deployment of active sonar in most oceans out of environmental concern since 2003, its use has increased in the seas surrounding Japan as U.S. forces are intensifying surveillance of China’s military activities.
“It’s highly probable that even Sunday’s collision was caused by a whale deafened by active sonar noise,” said Tadasu Yamada, a sea mammal expert of the National Science Museum.
But Prof. Akira Takemura of Nagasaki University was skeptical of the theory. “A whale, even if its hearing is damaged, can still detect and avoid an approaching ship by deploying other senses, such as feeling the water pressure on its skin,” he said.