Sunday, May 30, 2010
Northern right whales
Bureaucratic semantics are threatening the future of the right whale in the Atlantic, according to a lawsuit filed by several environmental organizations against the federal government. The case centers on a 2008 decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service to officially refer to the mammal as the North Atlantic right whale, instead of the commonly used Northern right whale, thus removing the legal existence of a critical habitat for the species.
The Humane Society, Defenders of Wildlife and other organizations contend the name change has allowed the fisheries service to ignore expanding the protected habitat for the right whale, which spends the summer off the Northeast coast and the winter off the Southeast.
The case is part of an ongoing clash between whale advocates and the U.S. Navy’s use of the disputed area for weapons testing.
Today, the whale’s population is estimated to be only 345, and even the fisheries service has said the species could become extinct within 200 years unless it is better protected.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Feds Play Name Games While Whales Die (by Sonya Angelica Diehn, Courthouse News Service)
Humane Society of the United States et al. v. National Marine Fisheries Service (U.S. District Court, Massachusetts) (pdf)
Fisheries Agency Clashes with Navy and Supreme Court over Killing of Whales (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Navy Asks Permission to Harass Whales (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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