Latest news with #MarineMammalProtectionAct


Business Wire
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Wire
Green Oceans and Three Tribes Petition NOAA to Revoke Offshore Wind Companies' Authorizations That Harm 61% of the Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales While Building their Projects
LITTLE COMPTON, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Three Native American tribes, the Shinnecock Nation, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah, the Narragansett Tribe, ACK for Whales, and Green Oceans have petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to revoke the authorizations granted to harass and harm whales and other marine mammals during the construction of the Sunrise, Revolution, and New England Wind projects. In violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Letters of Authorization (LOAs) issued by NOAA allow the offshore wind developers to illegally 'take' or harm an excessive number of marine mammals, including the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW), while building offshore wind projects.. The petition also provides hard evidence connecting the construction of offshore wind projects and the deaths of endangered NARW, of which there are fewer than 350 left and demonstrates that the government's basis for allowing the LOAs relies on incomplete and flawed analysis. 'The collective harm from these projects will be devastating and likely irreversible if they are not stopped,' said Dr. Lisa Quattrocki Knight, co-founder and President of Green Oceans. 'We urge Commerce Secretary Lutnick to look at the previous administration's reckless permitting that threatens the health of our ocean and the animals that live there. The facts speak for themselves: these projects should not be allowed to proceed.' On an annualized basis, Revolution Wind 'takes' constitute approximately 12% of the NARW population, a figure that the courts and the National Marine Fisheries Service have said exceeds the statutorily allowed 'small numbers.' Over a five-year period, the combined 'takes' by Revolution, Sunrise, and New England Wind constitute 61% of the NARW population alive today. Whales cannot discern the boundaries between projects so NOAA shouldn't evaluate projects as one-offs in the same general lease area that will engage in construction activities at the same time. 'This is a death sentence for the Right Whales and an egregious violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act,' Dr. Knight said. 'NOAA's Letters of Authorization protect offshore wind investors at the expense of the environment. The law says the exact opposite.' About Green Oceans Green Oceans is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, community organization dedicated to combating climate change without jeopardizing the health of the ocean or the life it sustains.


E&E News
7 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
Feds revise rules for polar bear harassment in Arctic drilling
The Fish and Wildlife Service revised the rules Wednesday governing how much Arctic oil drilling can hassle the Beaufort Sea's polar bears. Pressed by litigation and an appellate court's order, the federal agency updated the regulation that authorizes the oil and gas industry's unintentional harassment of polar bears protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The new rules allow for more serious harassment than had previously been anticipatedbut don't cover 'lethal take' of the polar bears. Advertisement The Alaska Oil and Gas Association, which requested the updated regulations, is 'carefully reviewing' the final rule 'to assess its consequences for AOGA's members operating on the North Slope,' spokesperson Sarah Erkmann Ward said in a statement.


NBC News
23-06-2025
- Science
- NBC News
Orcas may be able to make and use tools, with a little kelp from their friends
It's the first time whales have been documented making and modifying tools, though humpback whales have been seen making air bubbles to trap krill and fish during hunts. The researchers think the behavior is common among southern resident orcas, a population that frequents waters off Washington state. The behavior seems to be more frequent in whales that are genetically related and could help them with hygiene, but also to bond as a social group, which is common in other mammal species. 'It matches well with grooming in other species of animals like apes and ungulates,' Weiss said. 'They'll groom and preen each other as a primary way of maintaining special relationships.' Deborah Giles, the science and research director of the nonprofit conservation group Wild Orca, said she was not surprised that the animals are capable of such a complex task. 'They're incredibly smart animals. The morphology of their brain shows us their capacity for social learning, language, and memory and emotion,' she said. 'This is another cultural thing they engage in. They learned it from family members and it probably serves multiple purposes — skin sloughing and solidifying social bonds.' Southern resident killer whales are a critically endangered population protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Their current population is about 73. The animals are social and live in close-knit family groups led by mothers and grandmothers. The whales are given tracking numbers by the Center for Whale Research and are closely observed by researchers, photographers and whale watchers — particularly when they're near communities along Puget Sound, like Seattle. 'I would venture to say it's the most well-studied population of whales on the planet regardless of species, because it's been going on for 50 years,' Giles said. How, then, did this stunning behavior escape researchers' notice for decades? They didn't have the right perspective. 'It's a really cryptic behavior. It's happening almost entirely underwater and it's a piece of kelp wedged between two animals that's only about 2 feet long,' Weiss said. More recently, researchers have started using drones to document the whales from an aerial perspective. As drone technology has improved, so has the data they've collected. 'What's really changed for us in the 2024 field season — we got a new drone,' Weiss said, noting that it provided higher-resolution video. He said the researchers first noticed a whale pushing kelp against another whale in April and then observed whales rubbing against each other for about 15 minutes. Once the researchers noticed the strange behavior, they began to see it more often. 'We started seeing it a lot — to the point now where most days we fly the drone, we do see at least one pair of whales doing this behavior,' Weiss said. The researchers suspect the behavior has been happening all along. 'We didn't have the right vantage. I do believe this is something that's probably been happening since time immemorial,' Giles said. 'I think we've just scratched the surface of understanding these animals, partly because of technology.' The southern residents have been in the spotlight of conservation efforts for decades. The whales are facing a number of threats, including declining quantity and quality of prey, toxic pollution and disturbance from vessel noise, according to the Marine Mammal Commission. Some research suggests the southern residents are on a path toward extinction, if more aggressive measures aren't taken. Weiss said the new findings offer yet another reason why it's important to take care of the species. 'Discovering something like this, late in the game for how long we've studied them, says there's a lot more to learn and they need to be around to learn those things,' he said. 'This is not just a collection of 73 whales … It's a unique culture and also a society. These are whales with a set of traditions that go back thousands of years.'
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Gray whale numbers decline to lowest since early 1970s, according to new data
The number of Pacific gray whales decreased significantly during the most recent count to the lowest numbers since the 1970s, while the number of whale calves also hit its lowest numbers on record. Gray whales, known for their migrations along the Oregon Coast in winter and spring, dropped to an estimated 12,900 adults and 85 calves in the latest data taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was a sharp decline from a year ago, when the number of gray whales was estimated at 19,260 for 2023-2024, and calf numbers were estimated at 221 in 2024 and 412 in 2023. "Our main concern and question is why the population does not appear to be demonstrating the same resilience as it has in rebounding from previous downturns," Sarah Mesnick, ecologist and science liaison with NOAA, said. The new data reversed hope from scientists that gray whales were rebounding after they endured an 'unusual mortality event' from 2019 to 2023 and worried instead that whales may be struggling to keep up with a changing environment. "The environment may now be changing at a pace or in ways that is testing the time-honored ability of the population to rapidly rebound while it adjusts to a new ecological regime,' said David Weller, director of the marine mammal turtle division at the NOAA Science Center and an authority on gray whales. Researchers in Mexico reported numerous dead gray whales early in 2025 in and around coastal lagoons as well as few gray whale calves. This suggests that many female whales may not be finding enough food in the Arctic to reproduce. So far in 2025, 47 gray whales have stranded dead on the West Coast, up from 31 in 2024 and 44 in 2023, the last year of the UME. While some of the stranded whales appeared skinny or emaciated, others did not. 'The lead scientists point out that this new estimate stands out because it reflects an extended downward trend in a population that has demonstrated short-term resilience in the past,' Mesnick said. 'The populations have previously rebounded quickly from downturns, including earlier previous UMEs, and we are going to continue to monitor the population.' According to NOAA and under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, UME "involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population; and demands immediate response." Causes of UME are attributed to infectious disease, biotoxins, ecological factors, human interactions and other undetermined factors. The gray whale population was large, at about 27,430 between 2015-2016. In the following years, a decline started from 2019-2023 to below 15,000 that was considered as unusual mortality event. It appeared that whales might by rebounding after 2023, but the latest numbers dispute that notion. Scientists attributed the die-off to localized ecosystem changes that affected the Subarctic and Arctic feeding grounds. The changes in these areas contributed to malnutrition, reduced birth rates and increased mortality. The migration routes, specifically the California Current ecosystem and the Arctic ecosystem, have experienced significant changes in recent decades as well, officials said. The current research shows a connection between gray whale numbers and changes in sea ice in the Arctic, where most gray whales feed during the summer, NOAA concluded. 'They're migrating from Mexican reproductive ground, or nursery grounds, to foraging grounds in the Arctic,' Mesnick said. 'It's one of the longest migrations on the planet.' Ecosystem changes in the Arctic feeding areas the whales depend on to put on weight and maintain fitness are likely the root cause, Weller said. Decline in calf numbers has been linked to sea ice cover in the Bering and Chukchi seas. In May 2024, a juvenile gray whale washed ashore on a beach in Bandon along the southern Oregon Coast. In 2023, four reported gray whales washed ashore Oregon beaches, one being a calf. Mariah Johnston is an outdoors journalism intern at the Statesman Journal. Reach her at mjohnston@ This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Gray whales decline to lowest numbers since 1970s


Miami Herald
20-06-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Two whales found dead together on Florida beach, state says. Here's what we know
Two whales found dead at a coastal park in northeast Florida are believed to be a mother and her calf, state officials say. The discovery was made Wednesday, June 18, about a 15-mile drive northeast from Jacksonville, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told McClatchy News. 'FWC staff responded to a report of two deceased Gervais' beaked whales just south of Hanna Park,' state officials said. 'A lactating adult female, approximately 14 feet in length, and her 7-foot-long female calf were recovered and necropsied by our team.' Results of the necropsy have not been released, but the data could reveal what killed the whales. Investigators did not report if they suffered wounds of any kind. Fatalities among Gervais' beaked whales have been linked to entanglement with fishing gear and 'man-made' underwater sounds that can drive them from critical feeding and breeding grounds, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says. The whales are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and can reach 17 feet and 2,640 pounds, NOAA says. 'This species prefers deep tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean but is occasionally found in colder temperate seas,' NOAA reports. 'There is little information on the abundance of Gervais' beaked whales worldwide.'