ASSOCIATED PRESS • June 10, 2022
NOAA has been reviewing the speed regulations it uses to protect North Atlantic right whales, and according to spokesperson Allison Ferreira, the agency will publish new proposed rules within the coming weeks. A public comment process would follow. Environmentalists have long pushed for stricter shipping rules to protect the whales, which number less than 340 and are vulnerable to collisions with large ships. They’ve fallen in population in recent years due to high mortality and poor reproduction. More than 50 of the whales were struck by ships between spring 1999 and spring 2018, NOAA records indicate.