Critical Habitat Designation for Rice's Whale
Rice’s whale is the only great whale species living full-time in the Gulf of Mexico. The species was first recognized as unique in 2021 due to its long evolutionary isolation in the Gulf. With fewer than 100 — and likely closer to 50 — individual whales remaining, Rice’s whale is truly one of the most endangered whales in the world. The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most industrialized seas on the planet. Rice’s whales are vulnerable to threats including vessel strikes; oil spills and other oil and gas activity; harmful levels of underwater noise from seismic blasting and vessel traffic; and plastic and other pollutants. NOAA Fisheries estimates that the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill was directly responsible for the loss of more than 20% of the entire Rice’s whale population. Since Rice’s whale is the only great whale species that resides primarily in U.S. waters year-round, it is essentially “America’s whale.”
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