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A sea otter in Monterey Bay
Washington, DC

House to Take Up Bills Torching Wildlife Protections

A draft discussion bill headed for a hearing with the House Natural Resources Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee on Tuesday is poised to tear apart
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2008.02.25 - North Atlantic Right Whale with Calf - Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, NOAA Research Permit # 775-1875
Washington, DC

Attacks on Critically Endangered Whales Continue in Subcommittee Spending Bill

Defenders of Wildlife condemns the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies spending bill before the Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee
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Two orcas swimming in a body of water. The orca on the left is jumping out of the water and the one on the right is breaching, just poking its dorsal fin and tops of head out. There are faint mountains in the background.
Washington, DC

New Bill Would Gut Marine Mammal Protections

Rep. Nicholas Begich (R-AK) introduced a draft bill today that would eviscerate the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the sole federal law protecting marine mammals in

More North Atlantic Right Whale Press Releases

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Sage grouse
Washington, DC

Year-End Legislation Is Mixed Bag for Wildlife

Congress passed its $1.4 trillion Omnibus spending bill along with other year-end legislation which includes both wins and losses for wildlife. The legislation has some
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North atlantic right whale
Washington, DC

Emergency Petition Seeks to Protect Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales From Fishing Gear

Conservation and wildlife-protection groups today filed an emergency rulemaking petition to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from becoming entangled in commercial fishing gear.
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North atlantic right whale
Washington, DC

U.S. Senate Releases CJS Appropriations Bill with $2 Million Increase for Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale Protections

Today, the U.S. Senate released its fiscal year 2021 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill, increasing funding for monitoring and protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale by $2 million over FY 2020 levels. The additional funds will also help develop and test new anti-entanglement fishing gear technologies. The funding levels are similar to those adopted in the House’s companion CJS bill. The House and Senate now must work to reach agreement over the final appropriations bill levels and language.
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North atlantic right whale and calf

Right Whale Consortium: Only 356 North Atlantic Right Whales Survive

An already-dire situation became dramatically more alarming Monday, as the federal agency responsible for protecting the North Atlantic right whale substantially reduced its past population estimates for this critically endangered species. Although the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) originally estimated that there were 412 right whales alive as of January 2018, it has now reduced that number to 383 based on new scientific analysis of an unprecedented number of right whale deaths. Even more alarmingly, it announced an estimate of only 366 right whales alive as of January 2019.
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North atlantic right whale
Charleston, SC

Seismic blasting efforts halted in Atlantic Ocean

A status conference on seismic litigation revealed today the industry will not pursue efforts to employ seismic blasting to search the Atlantic Ocean for offshore petroleum deposits this year, and possibly for several years.
Senior Vice President, External Affairs
lsheehan@defenders.org
(202) 772-3244
Communications Director
mdewane@defenders.org
(202) 772-0217
Communications Specialist
jcovey@defenders.org
Communications Specialist
jpetrequin@defenders.org
(202) 772-0243