saving right whales, right now.

• Position: PROGRESS REPORT

THE PROBLEM

North Atlantic right whales teeter on the brink of extinction. Hunters gave the iconic whale its name because it was the "right" whale to kill--docile, slow moving, and feeding close to the water's surface. From a precolonial population believed to be more than 20,000, right whales were hunted nearly to extinction by the early 1900s. When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973, right whales were one of the first species added to the "endangered" list--and they've stayed there ever since.

Now, North Atlantic right whales face another crisis of human making: Collisions with ships and entanglements in fishing gear. Today, the species is one of the most endangered in the world, with fewer than 450 whales remaining. The devastating loss of 17 whales last year alone--and no new calves reported born this year--has prompted a renewed urgency to save North Atlantic right whales before it's too late.

The federal government is required by law to protect right whales. But the measures implemented by regulators over the last few decades have not gone far enough. What's more, the National Marine Fisheries Service recently opened up 3,600 square miles of important whale habitat to deadly commercial fishing gear.

CLF IN ACTION

CLF has worked to protect right whales since the 1970s, when the organization stopped oil and gas drilling within whale habitats. More recently, CLF fought to protect vital habitats, such as Cashes Ledge, from commercial fishing.

In addition, when Deepwater Wind began construction on its Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island, CLF worked with the company to adjust its schedule to minimize impacts on migrating whales. CLF and its partners also reached an agreement with Deepwater Wind to limit potentially harmful preconstruction activities during site surveys for wind projects in federal waters off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Solutions to today's crisis already exist: ropeless fishing gear, stricter ship speed limits, increased monitoring and reporting, and closures of commercial fishing grounds when right whales gather to feed and mate.

But with federal regulators dragging their feet instead of taking immediate action to stem whale deaths, CLF is pushing to enforce the law and compel urgent action...