A push from environmental groups to impose ship speed limits to protect the endangered Rice’s whale has been denied, while the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) works on other measures to protect the whales in the Gulf of Mexico, the agency said Oct. 27.
In May 2021 the Natural Resources Defense Council, Healthy Gulf, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, and New England Aquarium filed a petition with NOAA seeking a 10-knot vessel speed limit and other restrictions on shipping to protect Rice’s whales in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. [emphasis, links added]
The Rice’s whale population is believed to number fewer than 100 animals, making it one of the most endangered species on Earth, according to NOAA.
Once hunted by whalers in the Gulf of Mexico, Rice’s whales are rarely seen today in the northeast Gulf and are at risk of ship strikes.
The environmental groups’ petition sought a year-round 10-knot vessel speed restriction within waters between 100 and 400 meters deep from around Pensacola, Fla., to just south of Tampa, Fla., plus an additional 10-kilometer (5.4 nautical miles) “vessel slowdown zone” extending seaward from that area.
In addition, the groups proposed prohibiting vessel transits at night, requiring operators to report their plans to NOAA Fisheries and to carry visual observers.
Port operators in the Southeast U.S. fiercely opposed the proposal.
“It’s as if NOAA wants Florida to hang up a ‘closed for business’ sign,” Mike Rubin, president and CEO of the Florida Ports Council said in June.
“Florida’s Gulf of Mexico seaports play an enormous role in fueling Florida, and are essential suppliers of everything from food to medical supplies, and construction materials to build homes, roads and make ongoing hurricane repairs in Southwest Florida.”
In announcing its decision, NOAA said other work needs to be done to come up with a protection plan for the whales.
“We have concluded that fundamental conservation tasks, including finalizing the critical habitat designation, drafting a species recovery plan, and conducting a quantitative vessel risk assessment, are all needed before we consider vessel regulations,” according to a statement from the agency on Friday.
Denying the environmental groups’ petition takes one whale fight off the table for NOAA Fisheries, for now.
The agency is now dealing with opposition to its own proposed rule that would extend seasonal 10-knot speed limits along the East Coast to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales.
Read rest at WorkBoat
How about simply having sonar for wale detection and even human spotters to see them ahead of the ship and actively avoiding them? Duh. Not a hard fix. Night-time the sonar will do the job.
On the other hand, 100 individuals is not a breeding population which tells a good biologist that this species is doomed. Short of capturing all of them and forcing a breeding program for decades (not going to happen and the question would be why?) this is a dying species and was close to extinction in the first place, which is true of many island species, which is what this Gulf of Mexico (subspecies) species really is.
I guess it is good that someone still cares about whales, since it appears to be open season to kill unlimited endangered right whales in the Atlantic for the sake of green energy (offshore wind).
As always these Eco-Freak groups come up with stupid ideas. Maybe they should just set up Whale Crossing signs