The endangered right whale is to get extra protection after a safe haven from shipping was set aside off Nova Scotia in
Canada.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) ratified a Canadian proposal to designate the 1,800-sq-km zone an `Area to Be Avoided` at a meeting in Denmark.
The voluntary restriction asks ship captains to steer around the area.
Collisions with container ships are seen as a key threat to right whales, thought to number just 400.
The new zone is in the Roseway Basin, south of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
It is close to a major shipping route between North America and Europe, and scientists say the slow-moving mammals have been killed in collisions with huge cargo vessels.
The restrictions will apply between 1 June and 31 December, when whales are known to congregate in the area.
Though the designation is voluntary, conservation groups say other such protected areas have seen a drop in shipping traffic.
The right whale is named as such because whalers considered them the `right whales` to hunt for their thick blubber, long baleen and because they floated when dead, making them easy to harvest. They can reach lengths of up to 18m (60 feet), weighing 30-80 metric tons.
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`Step forward`
Despite being protected since 1937 the right whale is close to extinction, with scientists estimating a global population of only 400.
Canadian parliamentarian Gerald Keddy said he was `delighted` his government`s proposal had been backed by the IMO.
`Mariners will receive all the information they need to avoid collisions with right whales in the Roseway Basin. We are confident that the adoption of this proposal will have a significant positive impact on the right whales` road to recovery from the brink of extinction,` he said in a statement.
Scientists with the Canadian Whale Institute called the move `a major step forward in helping the right whale to recover`.
