07/01/2026
UPDATE: NMFS received over 34,000 comments! Thank you!
URGENT ACTION REQUIRED! Comments Due July 6th
Rice’s Whale is under attack!
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have submitted a request to determine whether the Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) should be removed from the Endangered Species list (delisted); be changed in status from an endangered species to a threatened species (downlisted); or remain listed.
Please write to comment in strong opposition to any delisting or downlisting of the Rice's whale under the Endangered Species Act. The threats facing Rice's whales have not diminished since the last status review in 2016, and that is what an assessment to delist is supposed to be based on. If anything, dangers they face have intensified. This action to delist is being spurred by a handful of federal politicians, industry hacks, who have no regard for the whales or the health of the Gulf.
At present, there are over 3,000 oil and gas platforms and facilities offshore. Many are located inside of or close enough to the critical habitat for Rice’s whales to create a number of threats. Oil and gas activity in the Gulf continues to expand into the species' critical habitat.
Shell, the leading operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, ironically named their newest 2025 production field “The Whale Field.” They proudly proclaim that it has an “estimated peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).” Considering its location just south of Houston/Lake Charles, in the Gulf’s Alaminos Canyon, the workers can likely spot whales regularly, as its position overlaps directly with the designated Rice’s whale critical habitat. The canyon sits along the continental shelf break in the western Gulf, and the whales are regularly detected in this area. Increasing ship and production activity are making the whale extremely vulnerable. A company making almost $68 billion in 2025 (with over $18 billion of that as pure profit), can afford to slow down and watch out for whales, don’t you think?
There are fewer than 100 individuals remaining, and many estimate that the true number is likely closer to 50. The Rice's whale is one of the most critically endangered marine mammals on Earth. It is the only species of baleen whale that lives year-round in the Gulf. It will not move to avoid dangers; there is no alternative habitat. There is no other population of Rice’s whales in the world. Extinction of this species would be permanent and irreversible.
Sadly, more leasing in the Gulf leads to more drilling, which threatens the Rice’s whales in multiple ways: seismic surveys and drilling operations for oil and gas generate ocean noise and increased vessel traffic, creating risks of vessel strikes. Oil spills and cleanup response can harm whales through noise, vessel strikes, and direct harm to whales from oil and dispersants. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster resulted in a population decline of up to 22 percent, with widespread reproductive failure in surviving females.
Vessel strikes remain a documented and ongoing threat. In February 2025, BOEM's decision to remove “burdensome” protective guidance for Rice's whales (like slower speeds in known habitat areas), has left them even more vulnerable. NMFS itself concluded in its own 2025 Biological Opinion that without precautionary measures, Increased and unrestricted Gulf oil and gas activities will jeopardize the Rice's whale and could lead to its extinction.
In March 2026, the Endangered Species Committee’s “God Squad” stripped consultation requirements from the entire Gulf oil and gas industry without any species-specific review or mitigation measures. Now, when the Rice’s whale most needs defensive measures, even this last vestige of protection has been removed. Please protect the future of the Rice’s whale, the only truly American whale. These whales are an irreplaceable part of our natural heritage.
Please urge the NMFS and NOAA to conclude this status review with a determination that the Rice's whale must remain listed as endangered, and to strengthen rather than reduce the protections and critical habitat designations currently in place.
Go here to comment: https://www.regulations.gov/document/NOAA-NMFS-2026-1222-0001/comment
