Question

a. whales migrate through commercial fishing waters to reach their winter breeding grounds, and face the serious risk of gear entanglement.
b. whales migrate along the coast of continents to reach their winter breeding grounds, where offshore petroleum drilling disrupts their migration routes with seismic surveys and oil spills.
c. whales migrate annually between their winter breeding grounds in one country’s territorial waters, and summer feeding areas in another country’s waters, crossing boundary lines in each journey.
d. whales migrate along major shipping lanes to reach their summer feeding grounds, with the potential of deadly ship strikes.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option for accuracy about whale migration threats/context:

• Option A: Gear entanglement in fishing waters is a real threat, but the question likely focuses on a different aspect (e.g., cross - border or shipping - related, not just fishing).
• Option B: Offshore drilling impacts, but the scenario here may not center on this.
• Option C: Describes migration between countries’ waters (cross - boundary), but this is about the route’s legal/geographic aspect, not a direct threat like ship strikes.
• Option D: Whales migrating along shipping lanes to summer feeding grounds and facing ship strikes is a well - known major threat to whale migration.

Answer:

D. Whales migrate along major shipping lanes to reach their summer feeding grounds, with the potential of deadly ship strikes.