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Straits Times
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
US delays rule on Gulf of Mexico whale protections by two years
A recently published environmental assessment found that vessel strikes in the Gulf of Mexico are likely to hurt the existence of the Rice's whale. WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump's administration will delay by two years a final rule designating protections for the endangered Rice's whale in the oil and gas drilling region of the Gulf of Mexico, according to an agreement with environmental groups filed in a federal court. The US Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service agreed with green group Natural Resources Defence Council to finalise by July 15, 2027 the geographic area deemed critical for the Rice's whale survival. The previous deadline had been July 15, 2025. The agreement filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on July 3 was seen by Reuters on July 15. 'NMFS continues to make diligent progress on this complex Final Rule,' the agreement said. 'NMFS, however, requires additional time to analyse the impact of the Rule and evaluate the science underlying it. As part of that process, NMFS plans to coordinate its efforts with the scientific and academic communities.' The delay is the latest turn in a legal battle among conservationists, the oil and gas industry and the federal government over protecting a whale that was only recognised as a unique species in 2021. The Rice's whale was previously considered a Gulf of Mexico subspecies of the Bryde's whale. Probably fewer than 100 Rice's whales remain in the Gulf of Mexico, according to NMFS. The mammals, which measure up to 41 feet (12.5m) and weigh up to 60,000 lbs (27,200kg), have primarily been seen in the Eastern Gulf, off the coast of Florida, but have also been spotted in western areas off the Louisiana and Texas coasts. The central and western Gulf is where most US offshore oil and gas production occurs. NMFS officials were not immediately available for additional comment. NRDC, representing the environmental group Healthy Gulf in a 2020 lawsuit over designation of the so-called critical habitat, was also not immediately available for comment. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business 'Some cannot source outside China': S'pore firms' challenges and support needed amid US tariffs Multimedia From local to global: What made top news in Singapore over the last 180 years? World Trump arms Ukraine and threatens sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil Singapore Turning tragedy into advocacy: Woman finds new purpose after paralysis Opinion Sumiko at 61: Everything goes south when you age, changing your face from a triangle to a rectangle Sport World Aquatics C'ship women's 10km open water swimming event delayed by a day due to water quality Singapore HSA intensifies crackdown on vapes; young suspected Kpod peddlers nabbed in Bishan, Yishun Singapore Ex-cop charged after he allegedly went on MHA portal, unlawfully shared info with man Oil and gas companies in the region welcomed the delay. Drillers had faced restrictions on how they could operate in key parts of the northern Gulf under a proposal published by former US President Joe Biden's administration in 2023. That proposal had expanded the whale's critical habitat to the central and western Gulf, potentially putting productive areas off-limits to oil and gas exploration and development. Green groups and government scientists have said that oil and gas operations threaten the Rice's whale's continued existence. 'We strongly support the decision to extend the timeline for finalising the Rice's whale critical habitat. Given how much work is needed to get this rule right, extending the deadline is both responsible and necessary,' Mr Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, an oil and gas trade group, said in a statement. REUTERS
CTV News
23-06-2025
- Science
- CTV News
Orcas use kelp tools to groom and bond off B.C.'s coast, study suggests
Members of the southern resident killer whales in the Salish Sea off of B.C.'s coast are seen in this handout photo, rubbing a piece of kelp between their bodies. Researchers hypothesize that the animals use the tool for both grooming and social purposes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Center for Whale Research, NMFS NOAA Permit 27038 (Mandatory Credit) In pricey spas, kelp facials and body wraps can set the esthetically inclined human back hundreds of dollars. But in the Salish Sea off British Columbia, southern resident killer whales are also using the sea plants for what scientists suspect are grooming purposes. Researchers who have spent years studying the endangered whales say higher quality drones helped them spot the whales regularly breaking off pieces of kelp to use as a tool, pressed between their bodies. Michael Weiss, chair of the Center for Whale Research, based in Washington state, said the whales were spotted on video last summer rubbing bull kelp between their bodies. Research in the new edition of the journal Current Biology hypothesizes both hygienic and social purposes. 'Other researchers have seen dolphins and whales using elements of their environment, or objects, to groom themselves. They'll rub themselves on rocks and sand and kelp to maintain their skin surface,' said Weiss, lead author of the study. 'And we also have seen whales and dolphins rub on each other to potentially remove parasites and dead skin.' But the southern residents' use of both types of behaviour at once has not been seen in other whales, Weiss said. 'We haven't seen any reports of whales combining those two things and using an object to enhance this kind of social touch.' The researchers observed the behaviour in southern residents across all social groups, both sexes, and all age classes. Weiss said other mammals, including primates, do use tools and groom each other, but the whales' situation is distinct, in part because two animals are getting shared benefits. 'We don't have one whale with a stick scratching the other one. We have two whales with kelp between them simultaneously rubbing it against each other. And that's really unique,' he said. He said primates rarely use grooming tools unless given them by humans. 'This kind of widespread, common behaviour in the population — everyone seems to be doing it in the southern residents, they're doing it all the time — there's not really any examples of anything like that, where it's become commonplace in social interactions to use a tool to enhance that interaction,' he said. 'So I think it's really special and it's a brand new context for tool use in marine mammals. It's not something we've seen marine mammals use tools for before.' Weiss said the next steps for researchers are seeing how the skill is learned, understanding more about the whales' skin conditions, and taking a closer look at the social bonds the use of the kelp helps create. 'Seeing if whales who perform this behaviour together are more likely to then co-operate in other ways later. Are they more likely to chase fish together? Are they more likely to share food with one another, or do other social interactions?' he said. The southern resident killer whales are a critically endangered, with fewer than 80 individuals left in the Pacific Northwest. Weiss said the research is another example of why it is important to protect the population. 'When we're talking about conserving this population, we're not talking just about conserving 73 individual animals. We're talking about conserving a unique culture with unique behaviours that if we lost them, we'd never see again,' he said. 'This is just another example of the fact that these separate populations of whales are not interchangeable, they're not fungible. They are special and losing them is a loss for the world. It's a loss of something unique from the world.' This report by Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Skagit Delta tidegate repair awaits resolve of legal action
Land lies protected for farming by dikes and tidegates in Skagit County, as the islands of the San Juan Archipelago rise on the horizon. (Photo by Salish Current) This article was first published by the Salish Current. If the tidegates on No Name Slough — an estuary at the Skagit River delta — appear to be stained, crusted and a bit sagging with age, it could be because they are 60 years old. If they fail, 450 acres of prime farmland could be inundated with salt water spilling in from Padilla Bay, and lost to farming. The Skagit Delta tidegates have a simple purpose: to drain farmland when the tide goes out, then block incoming tides when they come lapping at the gate. The Skagit River delta produces about 90% of the agricultural value of all farms in Skagit County. Some of the highest value crops — spinach and cabbage seed, wheat and barley — grow on the soil protected by the diking districts. The gates have made the Skagit River delta one of the state's most productive farmland areas, acre for acre, for 140 years. Now, the future of farming on 60,000 acres of delta land protected by a network of dikes and 100 tidegates can no longer be assumed. The issue is now being fought in federal court. A lawsuit brought by Skagit Dike, Drainage and Irrigation Improvement District 12 seeks to overturn a biological opinion by National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS, that the district says imposed onerous impact fees for merely repairing existing infrastructure. The fate of the Skagit delta's highly fertile farmland is inextricably intertwined with that of the Chinook salmon, classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, or ESA. The district lost its request for summary judgement in the first round on April 28, when U.S. District Court Judge Brian A. Tsuchida ruled for NMFS on all key claims. The decision was based on review of documents filed by both sides. Tsuchida's decision mooted his earlier decision in 2024 that the district could proceed with repairs because NMFS had taken too long in its environmental review of the tidegate repair permit. At issue, notes the ruling, is 'NMFS' conclusion that the No Name Slough tidegate project would further reduce the quality and perpetuate poor conditions of nearshore and estuary habitat for Puget Sound Chinook for an additional 50 years' — thus necessitating habitat mitigation and restoration. In bringing suit, District 12 contends the project is 'a simple tidegate replacement which does not expand the footprint of existing structures, and provides benefits to fish.' Commissioners of the district voted on May 12 to file an appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A hearing before a three-judge appeals panel is not yet scheduled. Jenna Friebel, executive director of the consortium that represents all 12 diking districts, said her organization 'disagrees with and is disappointed with the district court's decision.' A rule that NMFS adopted in November of 2020 imposes substantial mitigation fees for any nearshore infrastructure repairs, from tidegates to Port of Seattle piers. The No Name Slough tidegates are the first in the Skagit delta system to face the consequences of the rule. Before the change, the Skagit Tidegate Fish Initiative, or TFI, in 2010 established a system whereby tidegate improvements could be made without having to go to NMFS for permission for every individual project. The Diking District 12 tidegate replacement on No Name Slough has been pending for four years, since the district's original application for a permit approval from NMFS. The ruling expands the baseline for determining effects of a repair project from the immediate vicinity of the work to the entire Puget Sound range of Chinook salmon. The next step under ESA, unless conditions for Chinook recovery show improvement, would be to declare the species endangered, triggering more stringent rules to protect the fish. The rule also has been extended to include repairs to public infrastructure such as piers, waterfront bulkheads, ports and any other project that NMFS decides must involve mitigation fees. For District 12, that would add $2.5 million in mitigation fees on top of whatever it costs to replace the tidegate and repairs to a section of the dike around it. What NMFS wants to have mitigated is the subject of a lawsuit the district filed against the agency last December. Tsuchida sided with the federal fisheries agency on virtually every issue, citing at one point the 'deference' given to NMFS as the source of expertise and scientific knowledge on the ESA. Despite disagreement with the ruling, 'our member districts remain committed to working with state and federal resource agencies and local tribes to develop solutions to the complex at hand that are grounded in facts and science,' Friebel said. Senior Civil Prosecutor Will Honea, who deals with natural resource issues, said that Skagit County government has no direct stake in the District 12 lawsuit against NMFS. 'However,' he said, 'We are concerned that NMFS's single-minded focus on punitive regulatory measures is preventing productive progress in the Skagit, damaging the Skagit fisheries resource, hampering our ability to prepare for sea level rise and climate change and creating unnecessary conflict in our community.' NMFS officials have declined to comment on the ruling. The TFI was intended to make the process of obtaining permits for work on tidegates easier for applicants. The Army Corps of Engineers was empowered to issue permits directly for tidegate repairs under terms of the TFI approved by NMFS. It created an oversight board consisting of dike district representatives, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and Skagit County, state Fish and Wildlife and NMFS, with a staff member acting as coordinator. The program included a system by which districts could acquire 'credits' by doing work that made 'operational improvements' to their tidegate systems. Districts could do the work even if they did not have any credits stored. The Swinomish objected, complaining that the districts were using the operational improvements to do work that was more than the system should have allowed. The tribe gave 60 days notice of intent to sue NMFS. The tribe threatened to sue the Corps of Engineers for approving the District 12 work after its own finding that the project would have minimal effect on the threatened Chinook.
National Geographic
22-05-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
When humpbacks get stuck in fishing gear, their friends stick around to help
Are whales altruistic? A new scientific paper and a video present a compelling case the answer is 'yes.' A humpback whale stays by the side of a whale entangled in fishing gear. He spent more than five hours by her side, swimming below her and raising her to the surface to breathe. Photograph By Dan Cesre, Taken during research activities conducted under NOAA NMFS permit # 22750. Approaching two whales a few years ago, Rachel Cartwright and her research team noticed something strange. As the younger whale was caught in a fishing line, the adult of the pair started whipping his tail fluke against the water repeatedly. Eventually, the smaller whale caught on and started thrashing her tail too. It was as if the adult was showing the juvenile what to do. And gradually the fishing line that she had become entangled in started to come away. 'The research assistants named her Taylor, because she was trying to 'shake it off,'' says Cartwright, a behavioral ecologist at California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo. In a new study, Cartwright and a team of strandings specialists documented how a 'companion whale' tries to help when an individual humpback whale gets entangled in fishing gear. In a separate instance, Cartwright was studying humpback reproduction when her team came across a trapped two-year-old whale. An adult whale swam slowly next to her, putting his pectoral fin gently on top of hers or laying with her, snout to snout, at the surface. At one point, he appeared to try to protect her from tiger sharks. 'He was swimming behind, flapping them off with his fluke," she says. The second whale swam underneath, lifting the young female to the surface. 'It was quite clear that he wasn't attempting to mate with her,' says Cartwright, as males position themselves on top during mating. "To me, what's really interesting about this situation is that it's unrelated whales," she adds. On the suggestion of NOAA entanglement expert and co-author Ed Lyman, the team contacted Hawaiian and Alaskan strandings networks to find out how often this happens. When they looked over the data, 'we realized that this behavior is more common than we thought,' says Cartwright. Out of 414 accounts of entanglement from 2001 through 2023—54 in Hawaii and 260 in Alaska—'companion' whales responded in a helpful way 62 times. Olaf Meynecke, a research fellow at Griffith University in Australia, who wasn't involved in the study, has also seen this in the South Pacific Ocean. His team was trying to disentangle a young whale with a float wrapped around its fins. Two other whales stayed close by. One was beside the whale in trouble and another underneath. Meynecke felt like they were saying 'if you're not able to maintain buoyancy, and you start sinking, I will try and lift you up.' Meynecke has seen adults trying to help entangled calves, even if the mother is present. 'It can be four, five, six other adult whales who are clearly there because they want to support that distressed animal,' he says. But, in the study, more than half of the 62 incidents were between adults, so it's not just about looking after the young. Why do whales protect other whales? Looking through historical records, the researchers realized this behavior had been seen before—particularly during whaling, which was banned in most countries in 1986. When a victim was captured, 'other whales would come in and sit right beside them and stay with them while the capture happened,' says Cartwright. This put the responding whales at risk, so the behavior likely became less common. 'If you're the kind of whale that helps other whales, you're going to get taken,' she says, 'so this trait would have become quite rare.' 'The behavior may be a form of affective empathy,' says Anna Moscrop, head of science policy at Whale and Dolphin Conservation. 'An individual recognizes an emotional state such as distress, without experiencing the stimuli themselves.' Cartwright thinks this might also be an example of behavioral plasticity—the whales are adapting to a changing world where entanglement is now a regular part of life. Meynecke wonders whether the reason we're seeing this more is not only because 'we've got more distressed whales in the ocean' but also because technology like drones makes it easier to find and document these behaviors. Keeping whales safe from gear Entanglement—in mooring lines, nets, crab pots, and other discarded fishing gear—is an ever-growing threat. "Over 80 percent of whales will be entangled at some point in their lives, and up to 25 percent might be entangled every year but self-release," says Cartwright. Seeing whales desperately trying to help each other is 'absolutely horrible,' Meynecke says. 'These poor animals know exactly what's going on, and they just cannot do anything. It goes beyond just an individual. It's a highly stressful situation for a number of whales within the area who are communicating and trying to assist.' What's more, entanglement—a major cause of whale mortality—is preventable. 'The best way to protect marine mammals from fishing entanglements is to reduce the risk of contact between them and the gear,' Moscrop adds. One way of doing this is using fishing gear that minimizes the lines left in the water, which 'drastically reduces the chances of entanglement and saves whales.' This is something we can all play a part in. 'There are choices we make as consumers,' says Cartwright. 'There are lots of options to choose sustainably caught fish.' Incredible Animal Journeys is now streaming on Disney+.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gutting Endangered Species Act would harm Tacoma
At Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, part of Parks Tacoma, wildlife conservation is the core of everything we do. Every day, we see firsthand how the survival of endangered species depends on the protection of their habitats. That's why we are deeply concerned about a proposed federal rule from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that would weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by removing habitat modification from the definition of 'harm.' For decades, the ESA's traditional interpretation of 'harm' has been a cornerstone of conservation, allowing agencies to protect not just animals themselves but also the environments they need to feed, breed, shelter and migrate. This approach has been instrumental in preventing countless extinctions since the law's enactment in 1973. It has enabled the recovery of iconic species like the grizzly bear and the bald eagle by ensuring that their habitats and food sources remain intact and viable for future generations. Parks Tacoma's zoological teams have decades of experience working to recover imperiled species, from restoring native amphibian populations in the Northwest to leading the national recovery effort for the critically endangered American Red Wolf. These successes have only been possible because of strong protections for the wild places these animals and plants need to survive and recover. If finalized, this rule would allow activities that degrade or fragment habitat — such as logging, development or pollution — to proceed without ESA oversight, as long as they don't directly kill or injure individual animals or plants. This narrow interpretation ignores decades of scientific evidence and practical conservation experience demonstrating that habitat loss is often the primary threat to imperiled species. This is not just a technical change. It is in direct conflict with the original stated purpose of the ESA: that 'ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved.' Habitat destruction is the leading cause of species endangerment and extinction, both in the U.S. and globally. Without the ability to protect the ecosystems that species depend on, the hard-won gains of decades of conservation work could be quickly undone. The ESA is one of America's most effective conservation laws, with a 99% success rate in preventing the extinction of 1,700 species. Weakening its protections now would be a massive step backward, risking the future of countless animals, plants, and ecosystems. Now is the time to speak up for wildlife. The USFWS and NMFS are accepting public comments on this proposed rule until May 19. If you care about the future of endangered species and the wild places they call home, please add your voice. Visit and search for Docket No. FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0034 to submit your comment in support of strong, science-based habitat protections. Let's stand together to ensure the Endangered Species Act continues to protect not just animals, but the places we all depend on. Your voice matters. Alan Varsik has served as zoological director for Parks Tacoma since 2017. He has over 30 years of experience in the zoological field, including working to protect California condors, American red wolves and the Channel Island fox. Marc Heinzman is the conservation manager for both zoos. He has worked for over 15 years on conservation initiatives targeting species in Washington state, the broader United States, and internationally in Asia, South America, and Africa.
