Defenders Raises Alarm Over Administration’s Proposal to Amend Rule Protecting North Atlantic Right Whales From Deadly Vessel Strikes

Defenders of Wildlife is devastated to learn that a three-year-old female North Atlantic right whale was found dead off Virginia on February 10, 2026. This tragic news follows hard on the heels of the Trump administration’s stated intent to target “deregulatory-focused action” at the 2008 regulation protecting this critically endangered species from deadly vessel strikes. Vessel strikes, together with fishing gear entanglements, are killing right whales faster than they can reproduce.

“Another female right whale—the future of this species—has lost her life. We urgently need more right whale protections, not fewer. The Trump administration’s apparent determination to weaken the vessel speed rule could not come at a worse time,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “Although developing technologies may one day augment mandatory speed limits, we cannot run a high-tech experiment on the right whale’s survival.”

The 2008 vessel speed rule requires seasonal slowdowns for vessels in U.S. waters along the East Coast. The rule sets speed limits for vessels 65 feet and longer in areas where right whales and vessel traffic overlap seasonally. Economic data analysis has found only minor direct costs—between roughly $28 million to $40 million annually, 58–70% of which is borne by the container ship sector—with no detectable impact on the volume or economic activity at ports. 

With a population of roughly 384 individuals and only 70 breeding females, the North Atlantic right whale is at serious risk of extinction if additional conservation measures to reduce entanglements and vessel strikes are not implemented quickly. 

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