Mastodawn

#NOAA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that questions the need to continue the North #Atlantic #RightWhale Vessel Speed Rule which has been in place since 2008. The rule requires vessels 65 feet or longer to slow to 10 knots in seasonal management areas along the #US east coast where, and when, critically #endangered North Atlantic #rightwhales are known to aggregate.
NOAA confirmed the rule reduced risk to right #whales by up to 90%
https://us.whales.org/2026/03/04/noaa-questions-the-ongoing-need-to-protect-endangered-whales-from-vessel-strikes/

Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬Sep 8, 2025

#Whale #feeding zone discovery triggers call for protection
Satellite tracking of New Zealand southern #rightwhales, or #tohorā, has revealed a key feeding location about 500kms south of #Australia that needs to be protected, #scientists say.
"It turned out that one destination was by far the most popular," says Dr. Leena Riekkola, a Rutherford Postdoctoral Fellow. "90% of the whales traveled to a zone south of Australia, rich in prey, where different waters converge."
https://phys.org/news/2025-08-whale-zone-discovery-triggers.html

Whale feeding zone discovery triggers call for protection

Satellite tracking of New Zealand southern right whales, or tohorā, has revealed a key feeding location about 500kms south of Australia that needs to be protected, University of Auckland scientists say.

Phys.org

Lukas VFN 🇪🇺Mar 10, 2025

#Whales move nutrients from Alaska to Hawaii in their urine, supporting tropical ecosystems https://phys.org/news/2025-03-whales-nutrients-alaska-hawaii-urine.html

Migrating #BaleenWhales transport high-latitude nutrients to tropical and subtropical ecosystems https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56123-2

"in oceans across the globe, great whales—including #RightWhales, #GrayWhales, and #humpbacks—transport about 4,000 tons of nitrogen each year to low-nutrient coastal areas in the tropics and subtropics. They also bring more than 45,000 tons of biomass"

Whales move nutrients from Alaska to Hawaii in their urine, supporting tropical ecosystems

Whales are not just big, they're a big deal for healthy oceans. When they poop, whales move tons of nutrients from deep water to the surface. Now new research shows that whales also move tons of nutrients thousands of miles—in their urine.

Phys.org

Good News Community Feb 21, 2025

A federal appeals court reinstated seasonal lobster fishing bans in a 200-nautical-mile area off New England’s coast to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. This decision aims to prevent deadly entanglements in fishing gear, which threatens the fewer than 380 remaining right whales. Environmental groups welcome this ruling as a crucial step toward conservation.

@goodnews

#GoodNews #RightWhales #Conservation #MarineLife #LobsterFishing
https://apnews.com/article/lobster-fishing-right-whales-seafood-court-949dd5ac80a571baf923895b96bde6ad

A federal court restored protections for endangered whales that become entangled in fishing gear

A federal appeals court is reinstating rules designed to protect a vanishing whale species from entanglement in fishing gear. The ruling is a setback for commercial fishermen hoping for a loosening of fishing regulations during President Donald Trump’s administration. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision Thursday to reinstate the protections. The lower court had ruled against a federal law banning lobster fishing in a 200-nautical-mile area off the New England coast from Feb. 1 to April 30 annually. Lethal entanglement in lobster fishing gear is one of the biggest threats to the North Atlantic right whale.

AP News

Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬Feb 10, 2025

#Whales can live way longer than scientists had thought, with potential #lifespans as much as double previous estimates
Southern #rightwhales have lifespans that reach well past 100yr, and 10% may live past 130 years. Some of these whales may live to 150. This #lifespan is almost double the 70-80 years they are conventionally believed to live.
North Atlantic right whales thought to have lifespan of about 70yr. But average only 22 years, and they rarely live past 50.
https://theconversation.com/whales-can-live-way-longer-than-scientists-had-thought-with-potential-lifespans-as-much-as-double-previous-estimates-245826

Whales can live way longer than scientists had thought, with potential lifespans as much as double previous estimates

These marine mammals are still feeling the effects of whaling. For most species, it may be another 100 years before there are enough old whales for scientists to confirm their lifespans.

The Conversation

JW Jan 29, 2025

Curl Curl + Whale and Whale...that special time of year along the east coast of Australia when the whales migrate back south to the antarctic. Mother Southern Right Whale and calf via drone...

#whales #whalewatching #rightwhales #wildlifephotography #wildlife #ocean #dronephotography #australia #sydney #northernbeaches

Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬Jan 17, 2025

#Biden Administration Withdraws Protections for #Endangered #Whales
Proposed rules would have slowed more #ships to prevent collisions with rare #NorthAtlantic #rightwhales
In Aug 2022, #NMFS proposed rules to lower the risk of #whale strikes by expanding existing slow zones and regulating more types of ships. But after bristling public debate over the rules and with just days left in President Biden’s term, the agency canned the suggested change.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/us/biden-administration-slow-ships-whales-proposal-withdraw.html
https://archive.ph/VozSC

Biden Administration Withdraws Proposal to Expand Protections for Rare Whales

The proposed rules would have slowed more ships to prevent collisions with endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The New York Times

John

Jan 2, 2025

A paper, published in Science Advances, suggests the industrial hunting of great #whales such as #sperm, #blue, #fin & #rightwhales “masked” the ability of these underwater giants to live to great ages.

It has been known since the 1990s that Arctic bowhead whales can reach 200 years old or more, as indicated by tests on their proteins in their eyes, & by old Inuit stone harpoon tips found embedded in bowheads that had survived earlier hunts.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/02/great-whales-longevity-lifespans-centuries-hunting-study-finds

‘Extraordinary longevity’: great whales can live a lot longer than we thought – if we leave them alone

Bowhead whales may not be the only species that can live to 200 years old. Researchers have found that the industrial hunting of great whales has masked the ability of these underwater giants to also live to great ages

The Guardian

Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬Dec 30, 2024

Study reveals #rightwhales live 130 years—or more
Scientists working with Indigenous subsistence hunters in Utqiaġvik used chemical analysis of harvested #bowheadwhales to show they can live more than 200 years. Right #whales, which are much more closely related to bowhead whales than any other species, appear to exhibit similar #lifespans. The current study examined four decades of data collected by photo identification programs tracking individual whales.
https://phys.org/news/2024-12-reveals-whales-years.html

Study reveals right whales live 130 years—or more

New research published in Science Advances reveals that right whales can survive for more than 130 years—almost twice as long as previously understood.

Phys.org

Lukas VFN 🇪🇺Dec 20, 2024

Study reveals right #whales live 130 years—or more https://phys.org/news/2024-12-reveals-whales-years.html

Extreme longevity may be the rule not the exception in Balaenid whales https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq3086

"Southern #RightWhales, once thought to live only 70 to 80 years, can exceed lifespans of 130 years, with some individuals possibly reaching 150 years. In contrast, the study found the average lifespan of the North Atlantic right whale is just 22 years, with very few individuals surviving past the age of 50."

Study reveals right whales live 130 years—or more

New research published in Science Advances reveals that right whales can survive for more than 130 years—almost twice as long as previously understood.

Phys.org