Environmental groups demand emergency rules to protect rare whales from ship collisions
A coalition of environmental groups is calling on the federal government to enact emergency rules to protect a vanishing species of whale from lethal collisions with large ships
A coalition of environmental organizations has urged the U.S. federal government to launch emergency regulations to safeguard the population of North Atlantic right whales, which now number less than 340, and are threatened by deadly ship collisions.
The North Atlantic right whale population is dwindling and faces significant risks from ship strikes. Despite the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposing rules over a year ago to decrease these collisions by mandating ships to slow down, a final speed rule has not been issued, a news agency report said.
The environmental groups highlight the urgency of implementing these rules before the whale's calving season when they migrate from New England and Canada to Florida and Georgia. The Center for Biological Diversity emphasized that even a single collision could further threaten the species, according to a report by the Associated Press.
