An open letter signed by more than 100 scientists was sent to the Biden administration yesterday urging immediate protection of endangered Gulf whales.
No marine mammal has gone extinct in U.S. waters since the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was enacted half a century ago.
But only about 50 whales remain in the Gulf of Mexico, according to federal estimates, and face dire threats from fossil fuel exploration and development and other human activities.
responsibility
In a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Harland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, scientists have warned about the potential loss of a uniquely American species.
They observed that the whale is “the only large whale species that inhabits U.S. waters year-round. However, few aquatic measures are in place to protect it.
Unless significant conservation action is taken,” they concluded, “the United States could lead to the first human-made extinction of a large whale species. “
“The Gulf whale is the most endangered whale species in the world. As far as we know, it occurs only in U.S. waters, so Americans have a special responsibility to save it together,” said senior director of the Anderson Cabot Center for Marine Life at the New England Aquarium. Scientist Dr Peter Cochran said.
Critical
The Gulf whale, also known as Rice’s whale, was not recognized as a distinct species until last year, although it has long been known to inhabit the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Continued oil and gas development in the Gulf “poses a clear existential threat to the survival and recovery of whales,” the scientists noted, citing the impact of far-reaching airsoft investigations and oil spills.
Government estimates that nearly 20% of the population lost their lives after Deepwater Horizon sprinkle.
Decisions to manage future oil and gas activity in the Gulf will be made in the coming months. The Ocean Energy Administration is expected to issue a new five-year oil and gas lease program for the outer continental shelf, while the National Marine Fisheries Service is expected to issue a new rule for airsoft surveys in the Gulf.
“Our future depends on shifting away from fossil fuels, and renewables will benefit the Gulf of Mexico in the long term,” said Dr. Joe Roman, a fellow at the Gund Institute for the Environment and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.
“But we need to do everything possible, from preventing ship strikes to protecting critical habitat, to secure Gulf whales’ place in this greener future,” he added.
ignore
Signatories include experts from Cornell University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, marine research centers around the world and several aquariums.
Scientists have also called for aquaculture, offshore wind farms and other new industries to be sited outside the whale’s known habitat, which is limited to a stretch of water along the continental shelf fault from the east to the central and western bays.
They also called for ships passing through whale habitats to slow down and take other measures to reduce the risk of fatal collisions.
The scientists noted that these whales rested close to the surface at night, “making them extremely vulnerable to ship strikes.”
“I’ve seen two dead Gulf of Mexico whales — they both died of human neglect,” said Matthew Leslie, an adjunct professor in the Environmental Studies Program at Ursinus College. “We can’t let this species go extinct by doing business as usual in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Read a letter from a scientist. Listen to recordings of whales in the Gulf of Mexico, including a call known as a “long moan,” unique among marine mammals here.
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Yasmin Dahnoun is Assistant Editor ecologist. This paper is mainly based on Earth Justice Press Release, Nonprofit Environmental Law Organization.
