NOAA plans to roll back protections for endangered right whales

• Current rules mandate a 10-knot speed limit for large vessels in certain areas to prevent deadly ship strikes.
• NOAA aims to replace the speed limits with technology-based measures, though experts say these are not yet proven to be as effective.
• Vessel strikes and entanglements are primary causes of death for the species, which has a population of about 380 individuals.

At the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, a camera attached to the outside of the building tracks boat speeds emerging from the Atlantic Ocean’s horizon. Too fast, and the center sends a ping to the boat to slow down.

Since 2008, federal law has mandated that 65-foot vessels or longer cannot exceed 10 knots, or nautical miles per hour, in waters where North Atlantic Right Whales (NARWs) are calving and migrating along the East Coast. These waters were designated as Seasonal Management Areas (SMAs) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), typically in place until spring.

In 2022, NOAA had even proposed to expand the rule to all vessels 35 feet or longer, across greater area and seasonal boundaries.

But the organization has apparently changed its mind.

Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published its intentions to roll back federal vessel-speed protections established nearly two decades ago to protect North Atlantic right whales, one of the world’s most endangered whale species.

The move is meant to “reduce unnecessary regulatory and economic burdens on the regulated community,” the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) wrote in its proposal. Instead of “static” SMAS, the NMFS intends to put into place more “dynamic” measurements based on real-time responses from acoustic signals and sightings, much of which is still in development or can produce lag time.

More: The race to respond to right whales, via buoys

Rulemaker, rulebreaker

NARWs are especially vulnerable in the winter, when they give birth off of the Georgia coast and migrate north with their calves, close to the coast and right underneath the surface.

While many whale species like humpbacks and fin whales are prone to ship strikes, NARWs are especially covert in murky waters, dark in color and lacking a dorsal fin. So a 10-knot speed limit is helpful.

“Either the ship or the whale has time to get out of the way,” said Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Senior Scientist Mark Baumgartner. “Or if the ship actually does hit the whale, the whale has an opportunity…to survive that hit.”

Vessel strikes, along with entanglements, are one of the primary drivers of mortality in a species of about 380 individuals, making them among the most endangered whale species in the world. Since 2017, vessel strikes have killed at least 15 NARWs, or those autopsied and recorded by NOAA.

Per NOAA’s own words on its website, the speed limit has “reduced the likelihood of deaths and serious injuries to NARWs.”

Not only are the whales getting hit by boats, but also by climate change. Populations of its favorite meal, plankton, have declined due to warming the northwest Atlantic waters. NARWs have had to move north, farther from their calving grounds, and potentially as a result, researchers have noted declining calving rates.

More: New technology aims to reduce deadly boat strikes on Right Whales

Reliant on developing technology

Instead, NMFS will replace the rule with “alternative management areas and advanced, technology-based strike-avoidance measures,” the statement said. “NMFS seeks information on using dynamic approaches for speed zones based on whale detections… communicated to mariners via real-time electronic notification as a primarymanagement tool in place of static SMAs.”

“There’s no proof that other technology can deliver the same level of protection as slowing vessels down,” wrote the Natural Resources Defense Council in a statement.

Boats equipped with whale-spotting artificial intelligence are still learning. Apps like Whale Alert and buoys that detect their sounds can still lag a couple hours behind a signal, and ultimately rely on boats slowing down to be effective.

“The only way to reduce strikes right now is to reduce speeds,” said International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Southeast Marine Campaigner Greg Reilly.

The public comment period ends on June 2.

Jillian Magtoto covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. You can reach her at jmagtoto@usatodayco.com. This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Journalism Funding Partners.