14 DAY TRIAL // The Obama administration has set in place permanent speed limits for ships cruising through areas known to be inhabited by right whales, and the Humane Society of the United States could not be happier.
The Society details that, for the time being, right whales are considered to be an endangered species.
Otherwise put, these marine mammals need all the help they can get to avoid falling off the biodiversity map, and the speed limits imposed by the Obama administration might just do the trick and help up the overall headcount for the species.
“This is a huge victory for these endangered whales. Since most of the collision-related deaths of right whales have involved females, the reduction in these deaths is a major step forward for this species that is struggling to recover,” Sharon Young, marine issues field director for the Humane Society of the United States, says in a statement.
On its website, the Society explains that, before being made permanent, the speed limits were trialed for a period of five years. Apparently, the Obama administration agreed to implement them without a time limit attached to them after it was petitioned to do so by several conservation groups.
“Passed in 2008, the five-year ship speed regulations were set to expire on Dec. 9, 2013. The new regulations do not include a 'sunset' provision that would require the regulations to automatically expire at a specific future date.”
“By ensuring that these speed limits remain in place, the administration has extended protections that have proven effective in reducing deaths,” the Humane Society explains.
The regulations meant to protect critically endangered right whales apply to ships that measure over 65 feet (almost 20 meters) in length and that find themselves traveling across so-called seasonal high-use areas, i.e. waters where these marine whales are known to gather during certain times of the year.
The US National Marine Fisheries is the one in charge of administering them.
Since they were first imposed back in 2008 until present day, no whale deaths following collisions with ships have been reported within 40 miles (80.5 kilometers) of any of the seasonal speed restricted zones they target. The Humane Society says this is because right whales can now spot moving vessels in time and move out of their way.