GA - Endangered right whale protection getting an $82 million boost
North Atlantic right whales, which calve off the Georgia coast, have fewer than 350 individuals remaining
One of the most endangered whales on the planet, the North Atlantic right whale, is getting millions of dollars in new funding to help ward off the specter of extinction, the federal government announced Monday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it will receive $82 million from President Joe Biden’s signature climate and health care law, the Inflation Reduction Act, to bolster whale protection efforts and try to help the remaining population rebound. There are thought to be fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales remaining, making them one of the rarest large whale species on Earth.
The animals have a special connection to Georgia: Each winter, females migrate from feeding grounds near Canada and the Northeast to give birth to their calves off the coasts of Georgia and Florida.
The whales are in the midst of an “unusual mortality event” that began in 2017, that has resulted in serious injuries, health problems and deaths in at least 115 individuals. NOAA said it plans to focus the funding on vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements, the animals’ main threats.
Scientists believe human-caused climate change is also contributing to the whales’ demise. As the world’s oceans warm, the distribution of the microscopic crustaceans they feed on is shifting, pushing them farther afield in their search for food and into tracts of ocean with fewer boating and fishing restrictions.
“The species has experienced a severe population decline that has underscored the urgency to take new and innovative actions for their recovery,” Janet Coit, the assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said in a statement. “This funding allows us to invest in technologies to reduce the risk of vessel strikes, increase the use of on-demand fishing gear and improve enforcement of existing federal regulations.”
NOAA said it will use $35.8 million for acoustic monitoring, tagging and modeling efforts to track the whales. Approximately $20 million will go to reducing vessel strikes and nearly $18 million to advance ropeless fishing gear and other technologies that help avoid entanglements. Another $5 million will help bolster regulation enforcement efforts.
