NANTUCKET – A petition from Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket to restrict vessel operations, speed, and fixed gear fishing operations in areas of known Right Whale habitats, has received 4,675 signatures.
People from all over the Unites States and the world came together to show support for the endangered animals, with the petition reaching five continents.
“This petition by Doctor Story Mayo at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, he’s been studying Right Whales for years and he is very concerned because the Right Whale is on the brink of extinction,” said Founder and Director Emeritus of Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket, Jean Rioux.
Congressman Bill Keating was one of the many people who signed the petition along with representatives from his office, Camron Bauer and Kathleen Gildea.
Keating also sent the petition to NOAA, The National Marine Fisheries, and Ocean Canada.
Currently, only 400 Right Whales remain, and of them only 100 are breeding females.
Seven calves were born in the entire North Atlantic Ocean in 2019, an increase from the zero in 2018 and five in 2017.
“Every time they seem to make a gain, something happens that throws them back, a few years ago they didn’t even have a calf in the entire winter season,” continued Rioux.
Scientist predict the Right Whales could be functionally extinct in 20 years, and efforts to save them have to accelerate right now, or they may not come in time to be effective.
The petition’s message is slated to go to the U.S. Department of Commerce by the end of July or Columbus Day.
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