World Sailing calls on sailors to join the global study into marine life collisions at sea

Completely anonymous, the survey aims to identify high-risk areas, support safer sailing and help highlight the true scale of collisions, which are often underreported.

Take the survey here (available in English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese).

Alexandra Rickham, World Sailing’s Director of Sustainability, said, “The survey aims to establish a new baseline for collisions at sea to make the sport safer for sailors and crew and marine life, and to reduce the likelihood of major incidents at sea.”

Damian Foxall, professional offshore sailor, Co-Founder and Coordinator of MMAG, added, “We appreciate the efforts of everyone taking the time to complete the survey. As the eyes and ears of the scientific community, seafarers can have a huge impact by sharing their observations and helping to build a better understanding of our impact on ocean life. This knowledge will then inform better practices as we shift our role from being Ocean users to Ocean stewards.”

World Sailing is a founding member of the MMAG, a coalition of stakeholders established in 2022 to collaborate on the protection of biodiversity and to explore solutions to collisions with marine life for the sailing and boating sector.

Collisions with floating objects and marine animals are an unfortunate occurrence in the global sailing sector, with encounters including marine megafauna and whales.

According to data from the Marine Strike Log, a global dataset of incidents between sailing vessels and marine life maintained by the MMAG, over 50% of all collisions reported result in damage to either the vessel and/or its crew, as well as possible injury or death to marine life.

The results of this confidential survey will be added to the Marine Strike Log to build a more complete picture of the frequency of incidents at sea.

Image courtesy of Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing.