This file photo provided by the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources shows an endangered North Atlantic right whale entangled in fishing rope with a newborn calf on Dec. 2, 2021, near Cumberland Island, Ga. This spring on Cape Cod Bay off Massachusetts a team from the Center for Coastal Studies managed to remove 200 feet of rope from a different whale but the whale remains entangled.
David Wiley, research ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was part of the crew that spent late March and early April testing the water off Cape Cod for the presence of a naturally occurring chemical that could help predict where right whales will congregate. Few animals have brought more change to marine industries than the right whale, and conservationists say survival of the species, which numbers about 340 worldwide, is testament to the act's importance.
In recent years, disagreements over the proper way to apply the act have increasingly brought the industry into court. "We need to have realistic approaches to how environmental management is handled," Casoni said. "It becomes extremely costly for the industry to fight the ongoing litigation that's brought forth by the environmental groups."Maritime industries are subject to a host of restrictions aimed at protecting the rare whales.
On the West Coast, new protections are coming for endangered whales off California. The International Maritime Organization has adopted a U.S. proposal that takes effect this summer and would expand restrictions on vessel traffic to give endangered whales such as blues and fins more undisturbed sea. "All we are trying to do is get some reasonable restrictions in place and still be able to serve the people who are waiting for their Nike sneakers and fuel oil or whatever and still serve a measure of protection to the animals," Metcalf said.Long a focus of conservationists, the plight of whales helped inspire the Endangered Species Act. Many species were devastated during the commercial whaling era, when they were hunted for meat and oil.