May 22, 2025 — A lawsuit has been filed to force the federal government to protect endangered Rice’s whales in the Gulf. Scientists believe there are fewer than 50 remaining.
Federal regulators recently released a “biological opinion” that found strikes by oil tankers and vessels in the Gulf’s well fields are likely to threaten the existence of Rice’s whales.
The lawsuit is asking for stronger restrictions on speeds and for ships to keep at least 500 yards from visible whales.
NOAA Fisheries Service estimates that nine Rice’s whales would be killed and three seriously injured over the next 45 years. Chris Eaton, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, said that might doom the species.
“The Fisheries Service has said because the population is so low that if just one female dies, that could send the species to extinction,” Eaton said. “And the problem with this biological opinion is that it recognizes that risk, but doesn’t provide adequate measures to prevent that risk to those species.”
The Department of the Interior can lease areas of the Gulf to oil and gas drillers. But first, the Fisheries Service must study how endangered species are likely to be harmed.
NOAA Fisheries said the proposed rule would make lethal vessel strikes “extremely unlikely to occur.”