North Carolina Right whale advocates speak up at public hearing

On Tuesday, July 23rd, advocates, industry professionals, lawyers and scientists gathered at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City North Carolina to vocalize their support of a NOAA proposed vessel speed rule, which would expand a current vessel speed rule to further protect vulnerable Right whales. Representatives from the state coastal agency accepted the comments as they developed the state’s consistency response on the proposed rule.

Environment North Carolina Advocate Emily Mason urged the committee to allow the rule to be adopted, saying, “The species can’t survive if we keep killing them. Vessel strikes, alongside entanglements in fishing gear, are the two main causes of right whale deaths. If we want to save the species, we need to reduce vessel strikes, and the only proven way to do so is by slowing boats down during the seasons we know whales are off our coast.” You can view Mason’s full remarks here.

UNC Chapel Hill student and NCPIRG member Ayomide Olajide remarked that, “Just as we have school and construction zones on our roads to protect people, these proposed speed limits will protect Right Whales in their most vulnerable areas.” You can view Olajide’s full remarks here.

There are only 70 Right whale mothers left, and 4 whales have already died as a result of boat strikes this year. Two of the whales killed were young; one was only a few months old and the other was only around one year old. The other whale that lost its life was a mother. We don’t have ways to detect Right whales in the water that would dependably allow captains to avoid collision with them, so slowing boat speeds within parts of the ocean where the whales are known to travel during curtain months is the best way to protect this remarkable and vulnerable species. 

A rule has already been in place since 2008 which requires vessels 65 feet and larger to slow down. In recent years, we’ve learned more about where Right whales spend their time, and their migration patterns have changed as waters have warmed as a result of climate change. This proposed rule would take new information into consideration and more thoroughly address threats to the species through expanding the low speed requirement to vessels 35 feet and larger among other changes. This expansion is important because we know that medium-sized boats are also responsible for right whale deaths: the months-old calf that died this year was likely hit by a boat that was between 35–57 feet in length.

The Proposal to Amend the North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction Rule has been thoroughly studied by NOAA and would be the best chance at saving the majestic Right whale which travels through coastal waters off North Carolina’s shore.