SAVING THE NORTH PACIFIC RIGHT WHALE

Enormous, gentle, and playful, right whales have had the misfortune of being defined, even named, according to their value as hunted rather than living creatures. Whalers named the species thinking that these were the “right whales” to kill because they’re slow swimmers, they swim within sight of shore, and their carcasses float. Right whales were hunted for oil, meat, and apparel materials — for corset stays, umbrella ribs, and buggy whips — until the early 20th century. Once abundant, the North Pacific right whale is now the most endangered whale in the world.

The Center has been leading an international fight to protect critical habitat for the North Pacific right whale since 2000. In that year, we formally requested that the National Marine Fisheries Service protect the whale’s critical habitat as required by the Endangered Species Act. After putting up with years of agency inaction and delay, the Center was forced to sue the Service to insure habitat protection. Eventually, the Service designated critical habitat for the North Pacific right whale in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.

Though the North Pacific right whale has been considered officially endangered for almost 40 years, it long shared its Endangered Species Act listing with the North Atlantic right whale, thus not receiving the individual recognition and protection it deserved. But in 2008, in response to the Center’s 2005 petition and 2006 lawsuit, the Service listed the whale as endangered as a distinct species, significantly increasing the whale’s legal protection and triggering requirements to prepare a recovery plan and take other measures for the species’ conservation. Unfortunately, on the same day the whale’s individual endangered species status was made final, the Bush administration announced it was moving forward with a proposal to open up essential whale habitat to oil and gas leasing.