✓ Smithsonian MagazinePlanet & Environment
NOAA questions ship speed rules that have protected right whales since 2008
NOAA is reconsidering vessel speed limits introduced in 2008 that reduced fatal ship strikes on critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.
Since 2008, regulations requiring ships to slow in key zones have cut deadly collisions with North Atlantic right whales, among the most critically endangered marine mammals on the planet. NOAA is now calling those rules into question, raising concerns among conservationists.
With the population already fragile, weakening speed limits could reverse hard-won gains in reducing vessel strike fatalities.
Why it mattersIf NOAA weakens or removes the speed limits, the North Atlantic right whale's already fragile population could face increased mortality from ship strikes.
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