WASHINGTON, DC – Following the recent death of another critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, a coalition of nine international animal and environmental protection organizations today made an urgent appeal to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to issue immediate emergency regulations to protect the species from further death and injury due to ship strikes.
Since February 2004, eight known right whales have died in U.S. waters; NMFS acknowledges, however, this figure is most likely higher due to undetected deaths. Six were mature females; three were pregnant with near-term calves. All three expectant whales died by ship strike, including one by a U.S. Naval vessel. Only about 300 North Atlantic right whales exist today, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.
Despite the recent boon in right whale births, the decline of the species is accelerating because of ship-whale strikes and other human-related causes. To promote their recovery, the coalition is petitioning NMFS for emergency regulations that would slow vessels to 12 knots or less within 25 nautical miles of some east coast ports at expected high use times and/or re-route their travel path to avoid aggregations of whales.
It is critical for the right whale population that NMFS enact these measures immediately until meaningful and permanent regulations are put in place.
With a combined membership of more than 11 million, the coalition to protect the North Atlantic right whale species includes Defenders of Wildlife, The Humane Society of the United States, International Fund for Animal Welfare, International Wildlife Coalition, National Environmental Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana, The Ocean Conservancy, and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
"The future of the North Atlantic right whale depends on the actions of the National Marine Fisheries Service, making it critical for the agency to respond at once with interim measures until permanent solutions are enacted," a joint statement from the coalition said. "What the government is being asked to do is entirely feasible, and we are confounded by their continued resistance to take prompt action to save this species, as is certainly their legal and moral obligation."
North Atlantic right whales live off the east coast of North America, from Florida to Nova Scotia. Much of the population migrates seasonally between New England and Newfoundland. Pregnant females, however, calve in the southern coastal waters of Georgia and Florida. There, mother and calves stay from December through March and then slowly head to New England for feeding.
Scientists at the New England Aquarium (NEA) say right whale mortality is exceeding reproduction. The loss of this number of whales, especially reproductive females, in such a short period of time is unprecedented in the 25 years NEA scientists have been studying this species. A female right whale has the capacity to produce at least six calves in her life. The deaths since February 2004 represent a lost reproductive potential of as many as 30 animals, thwarting chances of their recovery.
The North Atlantic right whale has been listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since its passage in 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. As such, all federal agencies have a legal obligation to protect them and preserve their habitats. Far from meeting this obligation, right whales, whose habitat includes the busy shipping lanes of the east coast, remain virtually unprotected from ship strikes, which continue to be the leading cause of deaths in the species.
NMFS, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is responsible for the protection of marine life, including the enforcement of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
