Trump just made life even more dangerous to one of the rarest whales on Earth
Add endangered whales to the list of things the Trump administration hasn't given rats the butt.
On February 20, the Marine Energy Administration, an agency belonging to the Ministry of the Interior Department, announced that the agency had cancelled the notice, which recommended operators in waters occupied by rice whales to limit their speed to 10 knots (11.5 miles per hour) or below. The notice, which will affect the Gulf of Mexico, was issued in 2023 to specifically protect the whales of rice, an endangered marine mammal.
Although the exact amount of straw remaining in the Atlantic Ocean is not known yet, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that there may be less than 100 of them. This makes them one of the rarest whale species on Earth, protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. NOAA said that due to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, their numbers were already small.
The notice also requires ship operators to post trained visual observers while in the reserve to monitor the waters and maintain at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) in any observed rice whale.
According to a statement, the notice was revoked to comply with what Interior Secretary Doug Burgum calls the order to release U.S. energy, which is designed to remove “barriers and barriers to the use of our nation’s abundant energy and natural resources” under the Biden administration’s heavy regulations.
Environmental advocates responded to anger. Michael Jasny, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Agency of the National Defense Council of Natural Resources, said the recommendations were based on “common sense”, as he told Tampa Bay Times. “The consequences of fatal mistakes are too terrible to consider,” he added. “When you talk about one of the most endangered whales on the planet, it's a reasonable thing to slow down in this school area.”
Not shockingly, the spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute disagrees era These recommendations “only burden offshore oil and gas producers without considering ship traffic for other users in the region”.
Apart from being extremely rare, Rice Whale is one of the latest known whales officially identified. Although whales were first spotted in the Gulf of Mexico in the 1960s, they were initially considered part of a family known as Brad Whale. It wasn't until 2021 that genetic and morphological tests helped researchers determine that they were a different species.
The whales of rice are large mammals, weighing up to 41 feet (12.5 meters) and weighing up to 60,000 pounds (27,215 kg). They also face many threats, mainly due to industrial activities. According to NOAA, their figures gradually reduce energy exploration and oil leakage, capture of fishing gear and man-created ocean debris and noise.
During the day, they stay in deeper waters for feeding, but at night, they usually rise within 50 feet (12 meters) of the surface. This makes them susceptible to being hit by the ship. At least proved to be fatal. In 2009, whales that were later identified as belonging to the species floated in the Port of Tampa. An autopsy determined that the female's death was caused by a collision with the ship.
The decision to revoke the notice came weeks after Boem chief Elizabeth Klein was fired. Klein was appointed to the position in 2023 by former President Joe Biden. The first few weeks of the second Trump administration were removed by massive civil servants as the president moved to a non-political role that traditionally incorporated loyalists into traditionally non-political roles.
As they say, that's why we can't have good things.
