A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A juvenile humpback whale nicknamed Sweet Girl died near the main island of Tahiti. That spurred an effort to change how fast boats can travel during whale-watching season. Here's NPR's Lilly Quiroz.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHALE CRYING)
LILLY QUIROZ, BYLINE: In this video captured by the environmental group Mata Tohora, we hear Sweet Girl crying in pain. She struggles to keep swimming as blood pours from a deep cut in her upper mouth. Locals believe she was hit and killed by a large speeding vessel. Underwater photographer Rachel Moore lives on Tahiti and was swimming with Sweet Girl just days before the accident.
RACHEL MOORE: Sweet Girl was coming around to see everyone in the water.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHALE SOUNDS)
QUIROZ: In a video on Moore's Instagram, the curious whale twirls in the water and doesn't shy away from the humans.
MOORE: It was the most powerful 10 minutes of my life.
QUIROZ: When Moore found out about Sweet Girl's death, she was devastated. Authorities are still trying to figure out who's responsible. But there is speculation that the boat that hit Sweet Girl was traveling about 34 miles per hour - almost six times the current speed limit for vessels traveling near Tahiti. That is why Moore has started a petition to change the speed limit during whale-watching season.
MOORE: If ships can stay below 12 knots, at least inside of the lagoon and the first two kilometers, that alone will protect a larger percentage of whales here.
QUIROZ: Thousands of whales are killed by vessels every year. But this incident, which has garnered international support, pits the need for islanders and tourists to get around directly against the whales that frequent the South Pacific island territory to mate and give birth.
CAROLINE RAIMBAULT: Personally, I got really affected, because I've been swimming with the whales recently with my friends.
QUIROZ: Caroline Raimbault is a travel consultant on the island of Mo'orea, about 33 miles from Tahiti. She signed the petition. Still, she says even though whale-watching season is very popular, locals are split about changing the speed limit for boats.
RAIMBAULT: A lot of the people that actually commute to go to Tahiti, going back morning and night on the ferries, they only want one thing - to reach the island in about 25 minutes, because they're so tired at the end of the day that they just want to reach the island.
QUIROZ: The petition currently has some 15,000 signatures. Rachel Moore has a higher goal - 280,000, the population of French Polynesia - before she officially presents the petition to the government.
Lilly Quiroz, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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