The National Marine Fisheries Service (NFMS) released a new rule at the end of December to reduce the risk to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Unfortunately, the rule is inadequate to protect these animals. NFMS’ rule focuses on helping whales that get tangled in fishing gear used for crab and lobster fishing. However, their […]
For North Atlantic right whales, collisions with large cargo vessels are one of the deadliest threats to an endangered population. But new research from Canada has found even under the government’s current maritime speed restrictions, strikes are likely to be fatal. In a new paper published in Marine Mammal Science, biologists found that collisions between […]
With their population still struggling to recover from over three centuries of whaling, the North Atlantic right whale is now just “one step from extinction”, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN last week moved the whale’s status on their Red List from “endangered” to “critically endangered” – the […]
As the North Atlantic right whale was placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of critically endangered species Thursday, environmental protection groups accusing the U.S. government of bowing to fishing and fossil fuel industry pressure to downplay the threat and failing to enact common-sense restrictions to protect the animals. Only 400 right […]
On the quayside in the picturesque Norwegian village of Andenes, the crew have been preparing their ship for the start of the new season in three days’ time. The engines have been serviced, the wooden meat-cooling pallets have been lifted on to the deck and the deadly exploding harpoons have been loaded. This weekend the […]
There’s more grim news for the North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered whale species in the world. In June this year, six individuals were spotted dead in Canadian waters. Among them was a breeding female named Punctuation who had given birth to eight known calves and had been a grandmother to at […]
The Trump Administration announced today that it will issue five Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs) for airgun blasting off the Atlantic coast. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated: “In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NOAA Fisheries has issued incidental harassment […]
Scientists were already worried about the survival of North Atlantic right whales following a slew of tragic deaths over the past year. Now, even more concerns are being raised about the lack of calves this year. Once considered the “right” whales to kill, this species was nearly hunted to extinction. Today, there are estimated to […]