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By Alex Lennane
Shipping lines will be paid $2,500 to slow down when passing through the Santa Barabara Channel off California. In a pilot project lasting four months, the ships will reduce speed so as to cut pollution and reduce the chance of collisions with whales. This is the whales’ favourite season for swimming in the channel – last week one was found dead on a beach, but they often get caught on the bulbous bow of ships.