In an open letter to the Biden administration, a group of more than 100 scientists is now raising the alarm about the impending loss, marking the first extinction of a great whale species caused by human activity.
Open Letter to the Biden Administration
In January 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recognized it as a brand-new baleen whale species. Long thought to be Bryde's whales, this species is now known as Rice's whale or the Gulf of Mexico whale.
According to the Daily Mail, researchers believe offshore oil and gas drilling techniques are to blame for the low number of survivors. Approximately 50 whales are reported to be alive, which suggests that the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in 2010 may have killed 20% of the population.
The experts stress that this is the only large whale species that live year-round in US seas in their letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
Rice whales can grow to a length of 42 feet, weigh up to 600,000 pounds, and have a lifespan of up to 60 years.
Fossil Fuel Exploration Kills the Whale
The scientists blame the Gulf of Mexico fossil fuel exploration and development for upsetting the animals' ecosystems and unintentionally killing them. The team claims that until considerable conservation measures are taken, there aren't many on-water protections for the species.
The experts assert that the continuation of oil and gas exploration in the Gulf poses a clear, existential threat to the life and recovery of the whale. Additionally, they mentioned the effects of extensive airgun surveys and oil spills.
Additionally, seismic oil and gas exploration noise predominates in the acoustic environment throughout much of the northern Gulf, affecting the species.
Airgun surveys negatively impact baleen whales in various ways, including the masking of physiologically significant sounds and disrupting behaviors essential for feeding and reproduction over vast ocean regions.
Open Letter's Other Details
When Rice's whales rest within 49 feet of the surface during the night, several shipping routes cross the seas.
A lactating female stranded whale was discovered with injuries that were consistent with blunt force trauma. Another incident involved a free-swimming person with spinal abnormalities consistent with a collision injury.
Despite the fact that there are just 50 known Rice's whales, scientists are nevertheless optimistic about the species' survival because the whales are still breeding and prior research on baleen whale populations suggests that it can grow if conditions are improved.
Solution to the Extinction
The scientists are pleading with policymakers to forbid drilling inside and outside of the whales' habitat to limit the development of offshore wind farms and oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico.
The letter states that habitat protection is necessary for the eastern, central, and western Gulf.
The Biden administration is currently moving forward with drilling in the northern Gulf at full speed and is thinking about a new five-year program for offshore oil and gas leasing, as well as a new regulation and associated permits and authorizations for seismic surveys in the Gulf of Mexico.
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