Slow down to save right whales

When you speed in a school zone, you put kids at risk. When cargo ships speed through our coastal waters while right whales are in town, they put at risk the Atlantic’s most endangered large whale.

The good news: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has identified areas, including some off the Jersey Shore, where right whales hang out. In these areas, the agency requires large ships slow their speeds down to 10 knots so that they have time to spot any stray whales up ahead and change course.

The bad news: a recent Oceana analysis found that 84% of ships sped in these mandatory slow zones, risking a deadly collision with one of the 350 right whales we have left.

Thankfully, our elected leaders here in New Jersey are on the case: last week, U.S. Representative Frank Pallone invited me and other advocates from Oceana, NJ Sierra Club and NJ LCV to a press event calling on NOAA and the Coast Guard to do more to ensure the rules already in place are enforced.

I held a press conference today demanding @NOAA and @USCG enforce speeding restrictions on large vessels that break the law, injuring and killing marine mammals. 84% of large vessels like cargo ships fail to comply with speed rules intended to protect marine mammals. pic.twitter.com/zf3jPfxqFF

— Rep. Frank Pallone (@FrankPallone) January 4, 2024

When people speed in school zones, they get tickets. If they get too many, they lose their license to drive because we recognize it’s too risky to have a reckless driver that doesn’t slow down to protect the most vulnerable people on our roads.

When these large cargo ships violate the speed rules, we should know and they should face consequences — and fines. It’s too risky for ships to speed where they might hit the most vulnerable whales we can find off the Jersey Shore.

There’s a lot we can do to keep North Atlantic right whales from going extinct. We should start by holding large ships accountable for speeding in places we know these at-risk whales rely on.