Jul 25, 2014 11:50 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Authors of a new study have raised concerns about shipping lanes off the coast of Calif. and their tendency to cross paths with feeding areas of endangered blue whales.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the study, published in the journal PLOS One, is based on 71 whales tracked over a 15-year period via satellite. The researchers were able to generate a detailed map of the most common areas for the whales to feed.

Led by Ladd Irvine, a marine mammal ecologist at Oregon State University, the researchers found that some of the densest food supplies are right along shipping routes. This study contradicts previous work since Irvine's team was able to identify tightly packed feeding areas the blue whales tend to frequent.

"It's an unhappy coincidence," Irvine told the Times. "The blue whales need to find the densest food supply. There's a limited number of those dense places, and it seems as though two of the main regular spots are crossed by the shipping lanes.

"This is far and away the most-detailed look that we've gotten on where these whales go."

The shipping industry has shown a willingness to cooperate with whale conservationists and the International Maritime Organization changed some of its routes did so in 2012. Now, Shipping companies like the Pacific Merchant Shipping Assn. (PMSA) are a little more hesitant to make another change because they can take some time to go into effect.

"We're looking to improve the science, and get the best handle we can on what the abundance, distribution and behavior of these animals are so we can develop the best management strategy," T.L. Garrett, vice president of the PMSA trade group, told the Times. "We don't have adequate data to make those kinds of management decisions yet."

Irvine and his team are hoping to add to whatever data is needed to influence change by giving the shipping industry information as accurate as can be.

"We found that the two areas of highest use by tagged blue whales off the U.S. West Coast during the summer and fall are crossed by busy shipping lanes leading to major ports," he said in a press release. "This information may be used to help mitigate human threats to the blue whale population."

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