Advocates are calling for action to save the North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species.

The Biden administration has appropriated $10 million to support right whale protections in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Jane Davenport senior attorney for Defenders of Wildlife, said the species is facing a rapid decline largely due to human causes like vessels strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. There are now only 360 right whales left in the world.

"The critical number to keep in mind is not 360, it's 70," Davenport emphasized. "There are only 70 reproductively active females surviving. And currently, human activities are killing right whales far faster than those 70 females can produce calves."

Davenport pointed out the waters off coastal Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina serve as the sole calving grounds for right whales. She wants the Biden administration to more create rules to promote the coexistence of right whales and boating traffic, such as imposing and enforcing lower speed limits during the whale's busiest seasons.

Davenport explained currently, vessels 65 feet or longer are required to slow down to 10 knots or less along the east coast during specific times of the year. She argued to keep right whales swimming this North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction Rule needs to be expanded to include smaller vessels.

"That proposed rule, if the agency finalizes it, will apply those seasonal speed limits to vessels 35 feet and longer," Davenport explained. "It redraws the seasonal speed limit zones to be more accurate, given that we know much more now about where the right whales are."

She stressed current conditions not only risk right whale extinction, but pose negative impacts to the marine ecosystem and climate, as well.

"It's important to save the right whales also because right whales are drivers of the ocean ecosystem," Davenport asserted. "They feed at depth and then they eliminate at the surface and those nutrients fertilize the plankton that produces oxygen."

Davenport added they are calling on lawmakers to do more and for the rule to be updated. She said in 2023, the Biden Administration rejected a request from Defenders and its partners to establish speed limits. However, she stressed they plan to continue advocating for marine life by appealing to NOAA Fisheries and lobbying Congress for funding and research into innovative fishing gear to reduce potential to harm endangered species.

Nature walks, festivals and more are happening this weekend to celebrate the 19th annual Endangered Species Day, which is tomorrow.

California is home to more than 300 threatened and endangered species, with more federally protected animals than any other state.

Susan Holmes, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition, acknowledged the many challenges faced by advocates.

"There is a lot of work to do," Holmes said. "But there are some extraordinary people doing it. And we just want to get folks to get out in nature and recommit to protecting endangered species in your communities, and also around the country."

Programs this week include a butterfly festival in San Francisco and a celebration at the Audubon Nature Center in Los Angeles.

Efforts to protect endangered species are often highly successful. For example, California had no endangered gray wolves in the wild as of 2010, and now has six wolf packs with at least 45 animals.

Holmes noted a partnership with the Yurok Tribe has led to a rebound in the California condor population.

"The California condor was just 22 birds brought into a captive breeding program," Holmes recounted. "Now you've got 300 condors flying in the wild when they were completely gone in the wild not so long ago."

Some of the biggest threats to endangered species include effects on food sources due to climate change, and loss of habitat due to development.


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Ahead of Endangered Species Day this Friday, conservation groups in North Carolina are celebrating the birth of eight red wolf pups at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

Red wolves, once a dominant presence across the Southeastern United States, are now teetering on the brink of extinction, with only 30 confirmed adults living in the wild.

Heather Clarkson, Southeast program outreach representative for Defenders of Wildlife, explained ongoing efforts to revive the population have been met with both hardships and victories.

"We've got a couple of hundred in facilities under human care around the United States," Clarkson noted. "Those wolves that are under human care are a critical part of the recovery program, because they are used to supplement wild populations and wild genetics."

Recovery efforts also include reintroducing red wolves into the wild. According to Clarkson, despite the risks posed by guns and highways, there have been wild wolf litters born in North Carolina for the past three years.

The wild wolf population has ranged from more than 150 animals to as few as 10, within a decade. Clarkson emphasized without the Endangered Species Act, the wolves would not be thriving today.

The red wolf is the only wolf native to the eastern U.S., and once roamed freely from New York to Florida, and even Texas. As the fight continues against extinction, Clarkson stressed the need to expand their current habitats beyond Eastern North Carolina. She argued identifying new release areas is crucial, along with advocacy to push for species expansion and survival.

"A large part of the recovery effort has just been working to re-educate citizens and teach them how to alongside these large carnivores, and accept the understanding that these animals have a place on the landscape," Clarkson stressed. "They have a really critical function in our ecosystems; they keep our wild areas healthy."

Clarkson added safeguarding red wolves is a collective responsibility, with action needed from both state and federal officials. The current red wolf population in captivity stands at 257, with ongoing research to understand their ancestry in the wild.

Groups that fight to recover endangered species are praising the California Fish and Game Commission's decision to change the Mojave Desert tortoise from threatened to endangered under state law.

One study estimates the normally long-lived species has declined quickly in recent years, losing around 155,000 adult animals from 2004 to 2014.

Jeff Aardahl, senior representative for Defenders of Wildlife in California, predicts the official state reptile is on a fast track to extinction.

"There are so few left that tortoises are going to start experiencing very difficult situations in trying to find mates," Aardahl said. "And because of that, the trend is going to keep going down until ultimately, there's no longer any tortoises left."

The biggest threats are development, military base expansion and training, livestock grazing and off-highway vehicle use. Wildlife managers have recorded dozens of animals crushed by OHVs in recent years, especially in critical habitat from Ridgecrest down to Barstow, north up to Fort Irwin and east to the state line.

California draws 2 million off-road vehicle enthusiasts each year.

Aardahl pointed out that a coalition of groups, including Defenders of Wildlife, sued in 2021 to force the Bureau of Land Management to redo its management plan and better protect the Mojave Desert Tortoise.

"There should be some closures during the spring period when most tortoises are above-ground foraging and mating," he stressed. "And then, greatly reducing the miles of routes that intersect with critical habitat."

Land managers fenced off one especially sensitive area around 1980. Since then, the Mojave Desert tortoise population there rose to be six times higher than neighboring areas that are used for off-roading.