Whales are some of the most magnificent mammals on the planet that inhabit the deepest parts of the world. No one can really tell if there are more species of whales that are yet to be discovered in the vast oceans. In fact, quite recently, a new yet endangered species of Rice whales were discovered living in the Gulf of Mexico.
Early last year, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a rare discovery: after years of research, they had found a new species of whale that had only been seen in the Gulf of Mexico.
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The animal, also called Rice’s or the Gulf of Mexico whale, can grow to be 42 feet long and weigh up to 60,000 pounds, which is about the same as a firetruck. Scientists thought for a long time that these were Bryde’s whales, which live in all of the world’s oceans. But they didn’t know for sure that the whales in the Gulf of Mexico were different until the last few years.
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The newly named whales are also in danger of going extinct, as NOAA says there are only about 50 known members of their species. Realizing this, more than 100 marine scientists signed a long open letter to the Biden administration asking for more protections for what they called “one of the most endangered marine mammal species” on the planet.
Peter Corkeron, a senior scientist and whale researcher at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, stated, “Some of us have been trying to raise the profile of this whale for many years now.”
He went on to explain that still, too many people aren’t aware of the threats these whales face and how desperately it needs protection- “It is really just the forgotten whale at the moment.”
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In a letter sent, the group said that if the Biden administration plans to drill for oil and gas in federal waters off the coast of the United States in the next five years, it should think about how potentially hazardous that could be for Rice’s whales. Despite his earlier climate conservation vows, Biden opens the door to more offshore drilling.
The group still sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deborah Haaland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, stating that “Continued oil and gas development in the Gulf represents a clear, existential threat to the whale’s survival and recovery.” The species is mostly found in the DeSoto Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico. It is vulnerable to long-term exposure to seismic air gun blasts, which are used in oil and gas exploration. The group clearly stated that these blasts could disrupt “activities vital to feeding and reproduction over large ocean areas.”
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Marine mammals are threatened with severe illness and death if exposed to oil spills, like the huge Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. When this happens, the oil can get into the airways and lungs and coat the baleen that Rice’s whales consume. The director of marine mammal protection at the Natural Resources Defence Council, Michael Jasny, said, “Oil and gas development has really created something of a house of horrors for the species.”
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Collisions with ships are also a major danger. Whales in the Gulf of Mexico sleep in the upper parts of the ocean at night, which could put them in the way of ships. In 2009, a lactating female was found dead in Tampa Bay. She likely died from blunt force trauma caused by a ship hitting her.
The scientists wrote, “A number of shipping routes traverse the whale’s habitat along the northern Gulf, and the collision risk is likely to increase with new offshore oil and gas development. With abundance so low, the loss of even a single whale threatens the survival of the species.”
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The Gulf of Mexico whale is in a group of species called the “Bryde’s whale complex” that are hard to tell apart by looking at them. Biologist Dale W. Rice found out about the population in the 1960s when he examined a live one that had been stranded off the Florida Panhandle and was being towed back to sea.
Scientists became interested again in the marine mammals and other wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Genetic samples from whales in the area showed that they came from a different lineage of evolution. In 2019, a break came when a male washed ashore in the Everglades and died. A Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History team dug up the bones a few months later.
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The unique shape of the whale’s head was a key piece of evidence that the whale was a new species. It is the only big whale that stays in U.S. waters all year. Jasny said, “This is the only great whale that belongs wholly, as it were, to the United States. And that gives us, I think, a particular responsibility for its protection.”
This is not the first time that people have tried to get stronger protections for the Gulf of Mexico whale. Even before scientists officially named the whale a separate species, some scientists and people who care about the environment worried about its survival chances.
In 2019, NOAA Fisheries finalized a rule that states the Gulf of Mexico whale is an endangered subspecies under the Endangered Species Act. This means that the government has to keep track of its status, designate a “critical habitat” that it needs to survive, and devise a plan for its recovery. The agency reclassified the whale as its own species two years later.
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Kristen Monsell, who is the legal director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Oceans Program, said that the endangered status is good news. Still, the federal government needs to do more and act faster to protect the whales.
She said, “They are facing an onslaught of threats,” and added that she hopes the letter will make people consider the issue more seriously. In May 2021, her group and other environmental groups, like Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defence Council, asked NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service to set a 10-knot speed limit year-round in an area off Florida and Alabama where whales tend to float near the surface. This area is about 11,500 square miles in size.
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NOAA has still not acted on the petition from the scientists. But Corkeron from the New England Aquarium said he hopes there will soon be more protections and that government leaders will make preserving such a unique species a top priority.
Corkeron asked, “Do we want the oceans to be places where whales can live and thrive, or not? If we don’t care enough to save them, that speaks volumes about who we all are.”
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