A federal wildlife sanctuary program is asking the record-number of cargo ships and other vessels along the Southern California coast to slow down to try to protect a local population of endangered whales. A supply chain crisis has turned the Channel Island region into a watery parking lot for waiting container ships, posing real threats to endangered blue, humpback, and fin whales in the area, according to Sean Hastings, a resource protection coordinator at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. “Slowing ships down as they enter and exit the ports is a great way to reduce fatal ship strikes on endangered blue, fin, and humpback whales,” Hastings told The Epoch Times. “We’re trying to both maintain commerce and protect whales.” The growing flotilla of container ships waiting to offload goods at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports has the sanctuary concerned, he said. “The extent of this problem has …