NANTUCKET, Mass. — The federal government is asking Atlantic Ocean vessels to slow down in an area off Massachusetts because about one-eighth of the worldwide population of an endangered whale has been spotted nearby.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says 50 North Atlantic right whales were seen south of Nantucket Island on Jan. 31. The agency has enacted a voluntary speed restriction until Feb. 15.
The government is encouraging mariners not to travel faster than 10 knots, or 11.5 mph, The Boston Globe reported. Collisions with vessels are a major concern for the animals, which are also threatened by entanglement in fishing gear.
There are only about 400 of the whales left in the world. Their population was devastated by whaling, which is now illegal. Their population remains in jeopardy because of recent high mortality and poor reproduction.
This week Maine's congressional delegation called on NOAA to take steps to protect right whales from ship strikes and, "questioned the agency on why it has failed to address the threat ships pose to whales," a press release said.
The letter, from Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, and Maine Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, notes that ship strikes and fishing gear are linked to right whale mortalities since 1970, but NOAA hasn't added new regulations to reduce this problem since 2008. The agency, however, is moving forward with regulations on lobster fisheries that "could have large negative impacts on fishermen's livelihoods and safety."
“Given the enormous impact upcoming regulations are poised to have on Maine’s lobstermen and the coastal communities they support, it is unfortunate and ineffective that NOAA appears to be moving forward with a rulemaking process addressing the risk from fishing practices while improvements to regulations on the outsized role of ship strikes on right whale mortality languish,” the delegation wrote in the letter. “Efforts to protect this critically endangered species must be grounded in data, which clearly shows that shipping, cruises, and other non-fishing activities pose a serious threat to the future survival of the North Atlantic right whale.”
Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said, "I join our Maine delegation to urge NOAA to finally tackle the threat right whales face from vessel strikes. If NOAA’s goal is truly to do whatever it can to protect these whales, it must address the range of risks these animals face, not just the minimal risk from lobstermen.”
Read the full letter here:
