East Coast Seasonal Management Areas
Location Summary
Since 2022, officers with NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement have been strategically deploying a Mobile Marine Monitor (M3) system along the eastern seaboard of the US to monitor vessel speed in North Atlantic right whale Seasonal Management Areas. While transiting these areas, vessels of a certain size are required to limit their speeds to reduce lethal strikes of the endangered population, and radar provides an independent measure of a vessel’s speed. The speed limit is only in effect during months when the whales are present. And as the whales migrate, the M3 system is relocated to monitor the seasonally active areas — a clear example of how the mobility of M2 can help maximize resources across a dynamic management system.
Read more about NOAA's efforts using M2 here.
Partners in Conservation
M2 System Deployments
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- Anacapa Island
- Catalina Island, California
- Coal Oil Point, Santa Barbara, California
- East Coast Seasonal Management Areas
- Elliot Key, Biscayne National Park
- Encinitas, California
- Farallon National Wildlife Refuge
- Gull Island, Channel Islands
- Miloliʻi, Hawaii
- Orcasound Lab, San Juan Island, Washington
- Piedras Blancas, California
- Pillar Point, California
- Point Bonita, California
- Point Conception, California
- Point Reyes Lighthouse
- Santa Barbara Island, California
- Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary
- Scorpion Bay, Channel Islands
- Scripps Pier, California
- South La Jolla, California
- Tiburon, California
- Tybee Island
- Virginia