What does the Coast Guard monitor to ensure navigational safety?

The correct choice highlights the Coast Guard’s crucial role in monitoring ship traffic to ensure navigational safety. By keeping a close watch on vessel movements, the Coast Guard can detect potential hazards, facilitate safe passage, and respond to emergencies. This monitoring helps prevent collisions and enables the coordination of search and rescue operations when necessary.

While weather patterns, commercial fishing quotas, and international shipping routes are important in their own right, they do not directly relate to the immediate task of monitoring ship traffic for navigational safety. Weather patterns can impact navigation, but the active monitoring of ship locations and movements is fundamental to upholding the safety of navigation in busy waterways. Similarly, while the Coast Guard is involved in overseeing commercial fishing quotas and international shipping routes, these responsibilities serve different regulatory and operational purposes rather than directly ensuring navigational safety.