Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Originally published at TalkingFish.org

A pending decision on fishing for cod and other groundfish in New England has big implications for marine mammals including some of the most endangered animals in our waters, the North Atlantic right whale.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is weighing a proposal that would expand commercial fishing into some 5,000 sq. miles of protected waters inside what are known as “groundfish closed areas” along the New England coast. More than 100 scientists sent a letter warning NOAA that this is a bad move for fish. But that’s not all. Scientists and conservationists also raised red flags about the potential harm to right whales, humpback whales, and harbor porpoises if NOAA ends protection for the closed areas.

Right whale sightings are concentrated within many of the current closed areas. Opening them to commercial fishing could put whales at risk. (©TalkingFish.org)

Right whale sightings are concentrated within many of the current closed areas. Opening them to commercial fishing could put whales at risk. As this map shows, hundreds of right whale sightings have been documented in the closed areas.

“Opening these currently closed areas to fishing only increases the overall risk of entanglement for whales,” said Sierra Weaver, an attorney formerly with the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife.

Defenders joined the New England Aquarium, the Humane Society of the U.S. and other groups in a letter to NOAA. The letter explains that fishing vessels are already accidentally killing too many of the area’s two most endangered species of large whale, the right and humpback whales. And allowing commercial fishing in areas that have been safe harbor for these animals will only make matters worse.

“With only about 400 North Atlantic right whales left, every loss is a blow to this critically endangered population,” Weaver added.

The groundfish closed areas have been an important part of plans required by the federal arine Mammal Protection Act to minimize whale deaths due to fishing. The groups make clear in their letter that allowing commercial fishing in an area the size of Connecticut would change all the underlying assumptions in the plan regarding risk and rates of whale mortality. There is little indication that NOAA or the New England Fishery Management Council has sufficiently considered this.

A right whale calf swims under the chin of its mother. Researchers sighted the pair 13 miles off Amelia Island, FL on December 28, 2012.

Others wrote to remind officials about how important whales are to the coastal economy. Maine naturalist Zack Klyver said the company he works for, Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co., takes 50-60,000 passengers to see whales each year.

“These visitors have an exponential effect on the New England economy as they stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants, and pay for gas,” Klyver wrote in his letter. Maine’s tourism industry generated nearly $10 billion last year—more than the state’s fisheries, forestry and agriculture combined, Klyver wrote. And he included this tidbit: the Maine office of Tourism found that “whales” is among the top words people use to search the office’s website.

Many of the letters and comments to NOAA noted how little thought seems to have been given to the broad ranging effects of the decision on the closed areas, and how rushed the decision process seemed. One letter cited the old adage “haste makes waste.” In this case, a hasty decision could end up wasting the lives of animals we cannot afford to lose.

Sierra Weaver, Senior Staff Attorney

A right whale calf swims under the chin of its mother, Catalog #2042. Researchers sighted the pair 13 miles off Amelia Island, FL.

Winter tends to be a big time for highly endangered North Atlantic right whales.  Just like some of us who travel to warmer climes during the cold of winter, right whales head south to warm up.  But for them, reaching warm water is more important than just finding a nice vacation spot.  Each winter, pregnant females migrate from their feeding grounds off New England down to their only known calving grounds off the coast of the Southeastern United States to give birth to the next generation of right whales.  There, the warm shallow waters provide ideal habitat for mothers to give birth to and  protect their newborn calves, keeping them safe from natural predators like sharks.  This winter, there have been 17 reported sightings of mother and calf pairs so far, providing hope that this small population of only about 400 animals is slowly inching toward recovery!

But as always, we’re seeking to make sure that recovery continues and that threats to the species don’t sneak in and steal it out from under us!  Back in the 1990s, a small area off the coast of Northeast Florida and Georgia was federally designated as critical habitat for the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) because of its importance as a winter calving area.  But over time, scientists have realized that an even bigger area stretching north across the coast of South Carolina and farther offshore of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina is “core calving habitat.”  They’ve used these larger boundaries to define areas where fishing should be restricted to protect vulnerable right whale mothers and calves from entanglement, as well as areas where ships should be required to slow down to avoid hitting whales.

This right whale mother and calf were the second confirmed pair in this winter’s survey. The mother has a scar from a vessel propeller on her lower right back.

But despite this recognition that broader protections are needed for these most important members of the species, and a 2009 petition from Defenders and its conservation partners to expand critical habitat along the East Coast of the United States, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has yet to take action.  Expanding critical habitat would ensure that any federal activities likely to affect the area – like fishing, shipping, offshore wind energy development, or Navy activities– are evaluated to make sure right whale calving habitat is not impaired or destroyed.  NMFS itself declared in 2010 that it would propose to amend its critical habitat before the end of 2011, but it still hasn’t moved forward with this beneficial action guaranteed by the ESA.  On January 30,2013, Defenders and our partners notified NMFS that we’ve waited long enough to protect important right whale habitat, and that we’re planning to take them to court to end their unreasonable delay in proposing critical habitat revision.

Also critical for right whale protection is the extension of important rules that require large ocean-going ships to slow down in times and places right whales are likely to be present.  Ship strikes are the leading cause of death for the species, but just like with cars, speed limits help ships avoid collisions either by giving vessels enough time to get out of the way, or giving the whales themselves time to move.  Current speed rules are set to expire in December of this year unless NMFS acts to extend them, and once again, we are concerned that the agency will delay protections this species – and especially this new generation of young calves– needs to survive.  Defenders and its partners petitioned NMFS last summer to extend the speed restrictions and we continue to push them to act quickly to avoid gaps in protection.

But there’s one more threat for right whale mothers and their calves: the Navy has chosen to site its $100 million Undersea Warfare Training Range close to their calving grounds.  The Navy has deferred its decision to actually use the range until it conducts further research and analysis about the impact of operating the range on right whale and other marine species, but for now, the training site still sits uncomfortably close to the calving grounds.  Defenders has taken the Navy and NMFS to court, arguing that this decision to build first and study later violates not only common sense, but also the ESA and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Right whales face a number of threats to their survival as a species.   But here at Defenders, we’re committed to ensuring that right whales thrive, and that means making it safe for mothers to make their southern trek, and for calves to grow up into the next generation of right whales and help secure a future for these endangered gentle giants.

Researchers sighted right whale Catalog #2413 and calf four miles off Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.

Sierra Weaver, Senior Staff Attorney

Sierra on a whale watching boat (Credit: Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society)

One of my favorite work trips every year is to the annual meeting of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The fewer than 500 remaining North Atlantic right whales live almost exclusively in the coastal waters off the Eastern U.S. and Canada, and this annual meeting brings together the scientists, government officials and conservationists working to bring these highly endangered animals back from the brink of extinction. Defenders of Wildlife has long been a forerunner in the fight to address the leading threats to this species.

As I do every year, in November I presented to the Consortium on the efforts of Defenders and our conservation partners to ensure that right whales and the busy waters of the Eastern Seaboard that they call home are protected from increasing industrialization. There’s a lot happening right now on these fronts, so it was great to communicate to the scientists how their research is being used for right whale conservation, and the upcoming opportunities for them — and you — to weigh in on what’s needed to protect right whales.

Some things to watch for:

Speed Limits for Ships
Ship strikes are the leading cause of death for North Atlantic right whales. In 2008, following years of pressure from Defenders and our partners, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) imposed the first-ever speed limits for large ships on the East Coast. These requirements give crew members more time to stop and avoid whales, and for whales to move out of their path. But the speed restrictions we fought so hard for will expire in December, 2013 unless the governments acts to extend them. Defenders and our partners petitioned NMFS in June to do just that, as well as to expand the restrictions to other times and places that right whales need protection. Making sure these rules stay in place and are as effective as possible is vital to right whale survival and recovery.

A right whale and her calf

Fishing Gear Entanglement
NMFS is scheduled to release a proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement in early- to mid-2013 on new measures to prevent right whales from being entangled in fishing gear. Entanglement can lead to the long and painful death of large whales as fishing lines cut into their blubber and limit their ability to feed and swim. I’m a member of the team advising NMFS on the entanglement problem, and am pushing strongly for the agency to take prompt action to protect right whales and other endangered species from this serious threat.

Critical Habitat
We’re also urging NMFS to move forward with proposed changes to the critical habitat for the North Atlantic right whale. Defenders and our partners petitioned NMFS for expanded critical habitat back in 2009, calling for expanded protection of right whale breeding, calving and feeding grounds, and for the designation of their migratory corridor as critical habitat for the first time. When they failed to act on our petition, we took legal action, and NMFS promised a proposal before the end of 2011. We’re still waiting, but will continue our efforts to shake loose this important conservation measure.

North Atlantic right whales have a long road to recovery, and threats to the survival of the species abound. With your help, Defenders of Wildlife is continuing the fight to make our oceans a safer place for whales.

by Haley McKey

When you think of climate change, you think of more heat waves and droughts, extreme weather, and melting ice caps.  But there’s another problem caused by carbon dioxide emissions, one which is less familiar to us, but no less catastrophic for our planet: ocean acidification.

How it happens:

Carbon dioxide (or CO₂, its chemical formula) is released by the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests and natural areas.  Most CO₂ goes into the earth’s atmosphere, but some is absorbed by our oceans; in fact, about a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted every year.  That comes to at least 5 million tons of CO₂ absorbed every day.

Algae and marine plants take up some of this CO₂ for photosynthesis, just as land plants do.  But a large amount of CO₂ simply dissolves into surface seawater.  This is what causes ocean acidification.  When CO₂ in the air is absorbed by the ocean, it bonds with water to form carbonic acid, the same stuff that gives an acidic bite to carbonated water and soda pop.  Like all acids, it releases positively charged hydrogen atoms, leaving behind the bicarbonate ion. The problem is that many marine creatures make their shells from a substance with a slightly different chemical composition – calcium carbonate – and the bicarbonate formed by the extra acidity is useless at best, and downright dangerous at worst.

Crustaceans like this sargassum crab need calcium carbonate to fortify their shells. Photo credit David S. Lee

How it threatens wildlife:

When the oceans have more bicarbonate and less carbonate, this interferes with the healthy growth of a variety of organisms, like mollusks (oysters and clams) and crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, lobsters and tiny krill, which are very important to the whole marine food web).  Mollusks take in calcium carbonate, a molecule in ocean water, and excrete it over their bodies to form hard, protective shells.  Crustaceans also use calcium carbonate to fortify their exoskeletons.  But human activities have increased the acidity of the ocean by almost 30% making it more difficult it is for these creatures to create their natural armor. Even tiny zooplankton, the building blocks of marine food chains, need calcium carbonate and cannot grow properly in acidic seawater.

Coral reefs may be in even more trouble.  Corals secrete calcium carbonate skeletons over their bodies to protect them, just like mollusks and crustaceans do.  Ocean acidification can cause corals to grow more slowly, and it is estimated that at current rates of increasing acidity, corals will no longer be able to lay down skeletons by 2150.

 Profound Effects:

The animals directly harmed by acidification may be small, but the effects are far-flung.  Baleen whales like the endangered Atlantic right whale depend on krill and plankton as a food source.  We humans have built whole economies around shellfish, not to mention the hundreds of fish species we eat that depend on them for food, too.  And as coral reefs die, the diverse and unique ecosystems they support can collapse.

Ocean acidification pulls the rug out from under marine food chains and coastal economies.  The only way to stop it is to make serious cuts to carbon emissions worldwide.  If not, it won’t be long before species begin to disappear and many ocean systems collapse completely in their absence.

Petition calls for stronger protections from ship strikes

Collisions with ships in the busy waters off the U.S. East Coast are one of the greatest threats to the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. And with only about 400 of these animals left, every whale death can have a huge impact on the long-term recovery of the species.

That’s why Defenders and a coalition of our conservation allies filed a petition today with the National Marine Fisheries Service, demanding stronger protections to guard against the threat of ship strikes.

Temporary protections were put in place in 2008 that set speed limits in important whale habitat, including the species’ calving grounds off the coast of Florida, their feeding and breeding grounds off the coast of New England, and their well-traveled migration path in between. But those protections were arbitrarily set to expire in December 2013, even though the threat of ship strikes remains.

As a result, Defenders is asking federal officials to extend the current ship speed limits, apply them to additional areas where ship strikes are likely to occur, and lengthen the amount of time that seasonal protections are in place.

As Defenders senior staff attorney Sierra Weaver says:

“Protections for highly endangered whales should not be removed until the whales have recovered. We hope the agency will follow the advice of its own experts and act quickly to make sure there is no gap in protections.”

Read the coalition’s press release about extending right whale protections.

In past centuries, North Atlantic right whales were decimated by the commercial whaling industry, and while whaling is no longer a threat, other man-made problems like ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear continue to regularly kill and seriously injure whales.

Right whales received federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in the early 1970s but still have not recovered. Females don’t reach reproductive maturity until age eight, and they only give birth to one calf every four years. Furthermore, these reproductive females and their babies are both the most important animals to the future of the species and the most vulnerable to ship strikes because they spend more time near the surface of the water.

Extending seasonal boat speed limits is the best way to ensure as many right whales as possible are able to survive and reproduce.

Defenders' Sierra Weaver, courtesy WDCS

As an environmental lawyer in Washington, D.C., much of my work involves the often invisible world of policy, laws, and court decisions. Every now and again, however, I have the incredible privilege of getting out to see the wildlife I work to protect. This past weekend, I got to do just that on a whale watching trip in one of the most important whale habitats on the East Coast of the United States—the waters off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

There were several whales in the water that day, but the most striking by far were the humpback mother and calf swimming alongside our boat. Locals told us that the mom was known as Mural, and that this was her third calf they’d identified over the years (as well as the first calf they’d seen this season). Not only did their beauty take my breath away as they gently rolled and swam close to each other and to our boat, but I was struck by how critically important our work to protect them really is. Those very whales I was watching might not have been there if it hadn’t been for our successful efforts to slow down ships and remove dangerous fishing gear from the water. And for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whales we heard were in the area (but couldn’t see because of extra protections that keep them free from disturbance by the public), it was enough to know they were there.

Whale watchers sight a humpback calf, courtesy WDCS

My trip out to see the whales was part of the fifth-annual naturalist training sponsored by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, and the Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown. And not only was I lucky enough to see humpback whales, fin whales, and white-sided dolphins swimming all around us, I also got to meet the wonderful folks in the whale watching community who are out educating the public about these animals every day. These folks who ride aboard the whale watch vessels and ensure that passengers know what they’re seeing are all incredibly well versed in the science and threats to the species, but this year the workshop organizers decided they would also benefit from the broader context of the policy work that ensures we all have amazing wildlife to enjoy.

That’s where I came in. And in exchange for talking about what I do from my desk in D.C.—how we use important laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act to make sure that these magnificent and imperiled species get to keep swimming in the waters off of New England—I got to learn from the folks who know these whales by name and be inspired both by what they do and what they see on a daily basis. All in all, not a bad day on the job.

The calf surfaces for air, courtesy Caroline Good.

Learn more:

Read about the critically endangered right whale and what Defenders is doing to save the species from extinction.

See how Sierra is leading Defenders’ fight to prevent fishing gear from entangling threatened and endangered whales in waters off the East Coast.