A communications operation to “sell” key measures is good. It's better when it's well framed. Last February, in the majestic setting of UNESCO, Alain Leboeuf, president of the Vendée Globe and president of the Vendée departmental council, announced, quite proudly, a whole bunch of environmental commitments for the tenth edition of the ocean race . Among them, protecting marine fauna on the race route by creating biodiversity protection zones (ZPB), where IMOCAs would be prohibited from passing, in order to minimize the risk of collisions between boats and cetaceans.
This early announcement surprised even the race management, who did not see how this could be implemented. “It’s still quite problematic to define these zones,” Hubert Lemonnier, the race director, explained to us at the time. And then, in any case, we are among them, among marine mammals, we will not be able to prevent them from occurring. If on the big day, you pass by the prohibited zone, you hit a cetacean, what will happen? This will mean that I have set my zone incorrectly, or it will mean that there are cetaceans which are outside this zone, and how can we define this zone? »
Scientists' recommendations
Among the skippers, even if we were unanimous on the fact that these ZPBs had to be created, many questions remained: “I don't want us to get into something which will be a way of clearing one's conscience, but which does not will not be scientifically supported, indicated Eric Bellion (Stand as one). I need scientists to talk to us and tell us that we really need to avoid this area. If this is the case, there is no discussion, it will have to be avoided. »
Eric Bellion and the entire fleet were therefore entitled to a small meeting with the Sables-d'Olonne Experts on September 20, who came to explain on what criteria these ZPBs had been defined: observation of cetaceans by boats and via satellite data, coupled to a search for logic linked to the salinity of the water, the crossings of currents, to understand why cetaceans find themselves in a certain place, either for the mating phases, or for food.
“0.0001% of the ocean surface”
All this brainstorming made it possible to demarcate… two biodiversity protection zones. Yes, only two, according to a document released by the race on October 19. One off the coast of Portugal and another near the archipelagos of Madeira, the Canaries, Cape Verde and part of the African coast. “They really cover an extremely small surface area, it represents 0.0001% of the surface of the oceans,” regrets Amaury Guérin, navigator, member of the La Vague collective, which works to develop competitive sailing on environmental issues. Before adding:
« We still expected that there would be at least the same ZPBs as those which had been put in place during the Arkea Ultimate Challenge, with prohibited zones notably in the deep south around the Kerguelen Islands, at from South Africa. The tool of protection zones is interesting, because it establishes the idea of sharing the ocean between sailboats and marine biodiversity. But given their scale, it will have a really minor impact on reducing collisions with cetaceans. It's more communication than really protection. »
Especially since, at the end of the year, marine megafauna, such as whales, will migrate, for example between Antarctica and South Africa, with a risk that the race will cut off these migration corridors. “This is where people who want to watch whales often go on tourist trips,” says Louis Burton. The skipper of Valley Office assures us that this area, which includes the Cape of Good Hope, has been prohibited for this edition. But no trace in official documents.
Until disqualification
So, if the unfortunate skippers dare to venture into these ZPBs to gain a little time on the rest of the fleet, what are they risking? “If you enter a prohibited area voluntarily and you say “I don’t care”, you are disqualified,” says Louis Burton. But if you enter for safety reasons or accidentally because you fell asleep and didn't hear anything when you woke up, like me in 2021 in the ice zone, you must leave the zone through the point by which you returned by limiting your speed. »
But, imagine the scenario where a huge storm forces our sailors to cross the biodiversity protection zone to avoid risking their lives, what exit route will be available to them? “In all cases, there is a discussion to be had with the race management, in connection with what is happening on the water,” believes Alan Roura (Hublot). And it’s the race direction who will tell us if we pass or not.”
Because the speed of Imoca boats, especially since the appearance of foils, is one of the reasons why there are more and more collisions between cetaceans and boats. So, some, like Charlie Dalin (Macif), when they can, try to raise their foils when they are in busy areas, like during the last transatlantic New York-Les Sables-d'Olonne. But, despite all the precautions taken, some collisions remain inevitable. And prefer to be hidden.
“During my last Vendée Globe, I preferred to say that I had hit an OFNI so as not to harm the team and the race,” says an experienced sailor.
So are offshore racing and marine wildlife protection incompatible? “The problem is not the Vendée Globe,” assures Amaury Guérin. The Vendée Globe could even have larger ZPBs, it would not change the race. What matters for skippers is to race with the same rules. And when the race is decided by the one who has the misfortune of hitting a cetacean, we take away the beauty of the sport. For the skippers, I think it's almost better for them to have large protection zones. »
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